Kaziranga (Assam) [India], July 2 (ANI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday visited Kaziranga National Park and took stock of the current flood situation after the flood waters inundated 163 forest camps of the national park.
Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora, MLA Biswajit Phukan and senior officials of the forest department along with officials of the Golaghat district administration were also present.
Assam Chief Minister Sarma told media that, the flood waters have inundated 163 forest camps of the national park.
“Since last night, the water level has been increasing in Kaziranga National Park. The flood waters submerged around 163 camps. The forest guards are still staying in those camps and they are still doing their jobs. We have vacated 9 camps due to the high level of water. We have brought some restrictions on vehicular movement given the safety and security of wildlife,” said CM Sarma.
“A rhino calf died due to a flood and two deers died while crossing the road. NDRF teams are here and mobile veterinary teams are also here. The health department is also working here. We are trying our best to deal with the situation,” he said.
Adding further, he said, “While the water level in Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Tinsukia and Subansiri river water level is also decreasing I think that the water level in Kaziranga might be decreased from tomorrow night or the day after tomorrow. Our whole forest team is working day and night.”
He further said that the training of the 3rd battalion is almost completed and as many as 1,000 forest staff are ready and if needed will be deployed in Kaziranga.
“We have made arrangements to deploy 100 out of the 1,000 forest staff of the 3rd battalion in Kaziranga. We will able to deal with the situation. We also touch with the Karbi Anglong district administration, council and village heads to ensure the safety and security of wild animals in the Karbi Hills as many wild animals moved towards the hills areas,” said the Assam CM.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Air Force (IAF) rescued 13 fishermen marooned on a small island in the middle of the Brahmaputra north of Dibrugarh in Assam due to a rise in the water level of the river.
Previously personnel of NDRF, SDRF and Inland Water Transport boats had attempted to rescue the fishermen who had been stranded in the middle of the Brahmaputra since Friday.
The rising water level and extreme current of the river prevented the rescue efforts, Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said.
The flood situation in Kaziranga National Park in Assam has turned critical as the flood waters earlier inundated 95 forest camps. There are a total of 233 camps in the park.
As a result of the flooding, the authorities have vacated six camps.
Sonali Ghosh, Field Director of Kaziranga National Park, said that a wooden bridge near the Moshguli Camp in Agoratoli Range was washed away by floodwaters on Monday, July 1.
“Herds of elephants have started moving towards Karbi Anglong through the Hati Dandi corridor. Heavy traffic diversion has been requested for the NH 715 stretch under Nagaon and Golaghat districts. Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has also been issued,” Ghosh said.
On Monday the ASDMA said that 19 districts- Kamrup, Golaghat, Majuli, Lakhimpur, Karimganj, Cachar, Dhemaji, Morigaon, Udalguri, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Nagaon, Sivasagar, Darrang, Nalbari, Sonitpur, Tamulpur, Biswanath, Jorhat- were affected by the floods. It said that all the rivers flowing through the state had crossed the danger mark at several places.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a telephone conversation, assured Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of full cooperation from the Centre in tackling the flood situation in the state.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he had briefed the Prime Minister about the relief measures being taken by the State.
“Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji called me a short while ago to enquire about the flood situation in Assam. I explained to him that Assam is experiencing a second wave of floods this year due to heavy rains in Arunachal Pradesh and part of our upper Assam districts. I also briefed him about the relief measures undertaken by the state government,” Sarma said in a post on X on Monday, June 1.
“He assured me of full cooperation from the Government of India in this hour of crisis,” he added.
Assam Transport Minister Keshab Mahanta on Tuesday visited the Hatimura area under Kaliabor Sub-Division in Nagaon district where the flood waters washed away a portion of an embankment near the sluice gate.
The Assam Minister said that the administration is constantly monitoring the situation and providing safe shelter to nearby people.
The flood situation in Assam has deteriorated with more than 6.44 lakh people in 19 districts being affected. Floods have claimed 35 lives so far with one person dying in Tinsukia district on Monday, said Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
The flood has waters inundated 26199.18 hectares of crop area.
In view of the current flood situation in Kaziranga, the Golaghat district administration has promulgated diversion of traffic in the entire stretch of Kaziranga National Park within the jurisdiction of Golaghat district which starts Haldibari to Agoratoli under Section 144 CrPC and in the interest of public health, safety and danger to wildlife. (ANI)
