TURA: Rising waters from the Brahmaputra and Jinjiram rivers along the Phulbari-Rajabala plains of West Garo Hills has caused extensive flooding of the low-lying areas since Monday, pushing thousands of inhabitants to seek shelter on higher ground.
“A population of 89,000 people comprising around 16,400 households have been affected by the floods in the block areas of Selsella, Demdema and Tikrikilla,” informed West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh from Phulbari, where he had undertaken a tour of the affected region on Tuesday.
This is the second time in less than two months that people in the plain areas are experiencing the impact of the floods.
The cause of the floods has been the extensive rainfall in the last one week across the upper region of Assam which has led to the water levels of the Brahmaputra rising.
The Brahmaputra flows alongside the Jinjiram, a river in Garo Hills, and often merges during the monsoon breaching embankments all along the Phulbari and Rajabala banks.
Garo Hills has also had its share of torrential rains for the past one week causing damage to roads and embankments not just in the plain areas but the hills districts of East and South Garo Hills too.
The mighty Simsang — the biggest river in the region — breached its banks at many places including Baghmara town inundating low-lying areas.
The torrential downpour also caused landslips at many places in the hills region which have since been cleared.
Meanwhile, the Selsella to Rajabala main road was submerged by flood waters at village Kalpara on Tuesday morning.
Flood waters have also inundated markets and localities in the twin towns of Old and New Bhaitbari, parts of Rajabala, Chokchokia and Selsella.
While the district administration has begun setting up relief camps and providing gratuity relief in the form of rice and other essentials, most of the affected people have pitched camps atop roads and bridges.
“Many prefer to stay in makeshift tents on the roads and embankments which are next to their flooded homes. We are providing them with relief,” informed Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh.
District authorities are hopeful that the waters will soon recede since the region has been experiencing a considerable period of dry spell in the last three days.
Three MLAs petition CM
Meanwhile, three Garo Hills legislators — Azad Zaman (Rajabala), Ferlin CA Sangma (Selsella), and SGE Mominin (Phulbari) — in a joint letter to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has asked him to declare the low-lying areas of Garo Hills as flood-affected.