GUWAHATI: A population of 27.63 lakh in 26 districts of Assam remains affected by floods while three more deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority informed on Saturday evening.
Two deaths were reported from Baghbar revenue circle in Barpeta district while one death was reported from Mankachar revenue circle in South Salmara district.
The overall deluge related death toll with the latest casualties has gone up to 79.
While the number of people affected has come down drastically in the past couple of days, districts such as Dhubri, Goalpara and Morigaon have a substantial population still displaced by floodwater.
The Brahmaputra continues to flow above danger level in four districts. Rivers such as the Dhansiri in Golaghat, Jia Bharali in Sonitpur, Kopili in Nagaon, Beki in Barpeta and Kushiyara in Karimganj are in spate as well.
As many as 47,465 people are currently taking shelter in 649 relief camps/centres across the state.
Meanwhile, 59 camps out of the 223 camps at Kaziranga National Park are affected currently by the deluge. “Till date, 96 animals have died due to floods while 132 animals have been rescued,” the divisional forest officer, Eastern Assam Wildlife division, informed on Saturday.
A rhino had strayed out to the Bandardubi area at Bagori range of the national park on Friday and was seen resting near national highway 37.
Park authorities informed on Saturday that a drive-out operation was carried to guide the rhino back to the park even as it appealed to people to drive their vehicles cautiously while passing through that section of the national highway.