GUWAHATI: Over 1071 human lives have been in waves of floods in Assam since 2001, while 11,283 families have been rendered homeless and compelled to live on embankments while the surging water has eroded away more than 4,03,050 bighas of land during the same period.

Assam’s Minister of State for Revenue and Disaster Management Pallab Lochan Das in response to question raised in Assam Assembly on Monday said 1071 human lives had been lost due to waves of flood in the state since 2001 while another 14 persons had been reported missing.

The highest number of 199 deaths was reported from Morigaon district, followed by 188 deaths in Goalpara district   and 100 deaths in Nagaon district during the period.

As many as 11,283 families lost their land and houses in flood since 2001 and are forced to live on embankments or near roads.  Barpeta district has the highest number of 3134 families who have been living on embankments, followed by 2284 such families in river island Majuli and 2202 families in Dhemaji district. These families who have been rendered homeless by flood and are lining on embankments/road side, have total 1430 children.

Moreover, 4,03,050 bighas of land have been eroded by flood waters in the state since 2001, with South Salmara district accounting for 1,24,416 bighas of land alone.

Erosion has steadily eaten into the land mass of Majuli island-district, which now has an area of 5,25,236 bighas of land against 9,30,712 bighas in 1951.

The minister further informed that 158 human lives were lost in the floods this year, which affected 55,85,557 lakh people in 31 districts of the state.

On the amount of funds available for rescue and relief operations, the minister informed that the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) had at its disposal Rs 768.75 crore for 2017-18, which included Rs 507 crore sanctioned for the current fiscal and the rest was unspent amount from the previous financial year. An amount of Rs 144.45 crore has been spent so far this year.