The death toll from the deadly floods and landslides caused by incessant rains for the past few days in the northeastern Indian states of Assam and Meghalaya has surged to 81 as eight more people including children lost their lives on Saturday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert, warning the authorities to be prepared to tackle intense rainfall in the states, till Saturday.
The two states received 125% above normal rainfall between June 8 and June 15. Such an adverse situation was also reported in West Bengal and Sikkim, for which a fresh warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall was issued on Saturday afternoon.
Landslides and a rise in water-level in rivers are also feared in the northern part of West Bengal over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Sikkim urged tourists not to visit some of the popular destinations in the northern parts of the Himalayan state.
Recurring bouts of downpour since Tuesday evening also led to landslides at a number of locations in Sikkim and flooded some areas in Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts of West Bengal on Thursday.
Tripura's capital Agartala also reported a massive flash flood. The city received 145 mm of rainfall in just six hours -- the third-highest in the last 60 years. Over 10,000 people have been left homeless in Tripura due to inundation caused by incessant rainfall since Friday but there is no report of any human casualty, an official said on Saturday.
In neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, where the situation is no better, water from the river Subansiri has submerged a dam that was under construction for a hydroelectric power project.
In Assam, there were at least 63 fatalities, most of which were reported from Hojai, Nalbari, Bajali, Dhubri, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, and Sonitpur districts in the current second wave of floods and landslides as of Saturday.
Also, a boat carrying flood-affected people sunk in Assam's Hojai district, leaving three children missing while 21 others have been rescued, officials yesterday.
The state’s flood situation severely affected almost 18.94 lakh people in 28 districts on Friday, displacing more than 70,000 citizens.
The worst-hit districts are Bajali, Barpeta, Darrang, Goalpara, Hojai, Kamrup and Nalbari amongst others.
Landslides were reported in Dima Hasao, Goalpara, Hojai, Kamrup and Kamrup (metropolitan) and Morigaon districts.
Some 3,000 villages are flooded, and 43,000 hectares of cropland are under water. Several embankments, culverts and roads have been damaged.
Several rivers, including Brahmaputra, Kopili, Paladadiya, Jia-Bharali, Manas and Beki, are flowing above the danger level in the state.
The Assam administration has set up 605 relief camps across 373 districts, which are currently housing over 1.08 lakh citizens impacted by the floods. Besides these, 235 relief distribution centres are operational in the state.
The Assam government has also arranged special flights between Guwahati and Silchar for people stranded due to the floods and landslides.
In Meghalaya, 13 new fatalities took the total body count to 18 on Friday. The state’s Mawsynram and Cherrapunji areas received record rainfall since 1940, officials said.
However, the all-India rainfall was 18% short of normal until Friday. But while a majority of India awaits rain, Assam and Meghalaya have been submerged in record rainfall of 1,000mm in the previous 24 hours.
India's annual monsoon rains usually run from June to September.
Nearly five million people in India were internally displaced due to climate change and disasters in 2021, the United Nations has said in a recent report.