People forced to flee as monsoon floods inundates homes in Assam

Web Desk

More than a million people were forced to flee their homes in Assam, northeast India after heavy flooding triggered by monsoon rains.

The Brahmaputra River, one of the largest rivers in the world which flows from Tibet into India and then into Bangladesh, burst its banks in Assam over the weekend, inundating more than 2,000 villages, and it was still raining on Monday.

Two people have died in separate incidents of drowning in the past 24 hours and more than one million people have been affected, according to a state government flood bulletin said.

Torrential rain hit at least 23 of Assam’s 33 districts and the federal water resources body said water levels in the Brahmaputra were expected to rise, with more rain forecast over the next three days.

The flood situation remains extremely grave with several embankments breached, according to an official

Most of the Kaziranga National Park, home to the rare one-horned rhino, was under water, authorities said.

Paramilitary personnel were deployed across the state for rescue operations and to ensure people maintain social distance in makeshift shelter camps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, authorities said.

Assam has so far reported 7,492 coronavirus infections and 11 deaths.