Shillong, July 27: The floods in Assam have claimed 64 lives between July 20 and July 26 and left a trail of devastation in several districts, especially Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat.
In Sivasagar itself, the death count has been 30. There was devastating impact on crops, houses and cattle. People had to take shelter on trees or rooftops to be save from the rising water level.
The unprecedented floods, as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the calamity, was due to incessant rain in neighbouring Nagaland. The water and mud flowing down from the hills have inundated the plains the Assam.
According to reports, experts and scientists are blaming deforestation, mindless mining and taking over of wetlands for infrastructure development as reasons for such heavy floods following the deluge.
The floods have taken local administration by surprise and it is struggling to reach out to people in distress with relief.
