20 Killed Due To Landslides In South Assam, Floods Kill 9

GUWAHATI: At least 20 people have been killed in several landslides triggered by incessant rains in the Barak Valley region of South Assam on Tuesday. Seven people have died in Cachar district, seven from Hailakandi district and six from Karimganj district, according to a leading channel. Several others have been injured.

Rescue teams have been deployed in the region.

Seven people, including two children, were killed and two others seriously injured in Hailakandi. The landslide hit a tin shack at 6 am, killing seven of its inmates, a news agency reported. The injured were rushed to S K Civil Hospital at district headquarters in Hailakandi and the bodies have been sent for postmortem.

Assam Minister Parimal Suklavaidya, who was in the town to review the COVID-19 pandemic situation, directed the district administration to immediately send its report on the landslide to the government for payment of Rs four lakh to the next of kin of each deceased, according to officials.

With two more deaths on Monday in Assam due to floods, the death toll in the state in the first wave of floods this year rose to nine. The two fresh deaths were reported from Kampur in Nagaon district, according to a bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

The number of people affected by the deluge came down to 1.97 lakh on Monday from 2.5 lakh on Sunday.

In the worst-hit Goalpara district, 1.48 lakh people have been affected by the flood, followed by 31,594 in Hojai and 17,644 in Nagaon. A total crop area of 24,927 hectares in the three districts is submerged and embankments, roads, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure have been damaged.