Assam floods kill over 100, displace 700,000 in eastern India
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Floods triggered by heavy rains between July 18 and 20 killed more than 100 people in India's Assam state. The disaster destroyed 2,700 villages and displaced 700,000 people across the state. The state government says 1.2 million people were impacted in all.
Key Facts
- Floods in Assam killed more than 100 people and displaced 700,000 across the state.
- The disaster destroyed 2,700 villages and affected 1.2 million people, according to the state government.
- Heavy rains between July 18 and 20 caused dozens of landslides in Nagaland, swelling rivers that originate in the Naga Hills and flooding downstream areas.
- In Sivasagar district, Debiram Panika's wife Dipika and four-year-old daughter Radhika were swept away by floodwaters from the Dikhow River; Radhika's body has not been found.
Flood Impact
Incessant rains between July 18 and July 20 submerged eastern Assam and the neighbouring Naga Hills of Nagaland. Several Nagaland districts bordering Upper Assam received heavy rainfall, leading to dozens of landslides. The intense run-off swelled rivers originating in the Naga Hills and caused devastation downstream. The resultant floods killed more than 100 people, destroyed 2,700 villages, and displaced 700,000 people across the state. The state government says 1.2 million people were impacted in all.
Personal Toll
Debiram Panika, a 37-year-old daily wage labourer from Assam's Sivasagar district, was working in Dimapur, Nagaland, when his wife called him in panic on July 19. Rising waters from the Dikhow River surged into their bamboo-and-mud home and swept away his wife Dipika and four-year-old daughter Radhika. Panika's other daughter, Ridhika, 10, held onto a bamboo bush and was later rescued by locals. Radhika's body has not been found, and Panika searches for her every day in the bushes.
Aftermath
Several riverine villages in Sivasagar have been wrecked by debris carried down by the Dikhow from the surrounding Naga Hills. Tens of thousands of tree trunks lie piled up in places that used to be homes. Lush rice fields, the main source of livelihood, have been washed away. Most waters have since receded, but the search for missing people continues.
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Assam floods kill over 100, displace 700,000 in eastern India
