(IN) 60 p.c. of Kaziranga park submerged

[Guest guest]

Writing on behalf of Pradeep Nath and Visakha SPCA which are very concerned

about all this. Any ideas if there can be any help to this region?

 

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60 p.c. of Kaziranga park submerged

 

 

 

Sushanta Talukdar

 

 

 

Animals forced to flee to safer places across National Highway 37

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

— Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

 

cut off: Flood-affected people set up relief camps on the National Highway 31

near Kendukona village in Kamrup district of Assam on Monday. The road links to

the north-east were cut off as the highway, which connects it with the rest of

the country, was submerged by the surging Puthimari river at Rangiya in Kamrup

district.

 

Guwahati: Flood waters of the Brahmaputra submerged 60 per cent of the Kaziranga

National Park (KNP) on Monday, forcing animals to take shelter on highlands

inside or flee to safer places across the National Highway 37 that passes

through the park.

 

KNP Director S.N. Buragohain told The Hindu that the eastern and western ranges

of the park, famous for its one-horned rhinoceros, faced the maximum inundation.

If the rainfall continued in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra, the entire

park area may be submerged.

 

On Monday, herds of elephants crossed the NH 37 and moved towards Karbi Anglong

during the day to take shelter on the highlands.

 

Large numbers of deer have also crossed over, prompting the authorities to take

precautions such as barricading, night patrolling and strict enforcement of

speed limits for vehicles on the national highway to prevent the animals being

run over.

 

The flood situation on the Majuli river-island in upper Assam’s Jorhat district

turned critical during the day, with flood waters of the Brahmaputra breaching

the main Auaniati-Kamalbari road at three places early in the morning.

 

Movement of vehicular traffic along the NH 31 in lower Assam — the lifeline of

all the seven north-eastern states — remained suspended for the second

consecutive day, as a 4-km-long portion was still under knee-deep water due to

breaches in the Puthimari embankment.

 

The overall flood situation in the State remained critical with the Brahmaputra,

the Barak and their tributaries flowing above the danger level at 12 places.

 

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi visited the flood-hit areas in lower Assam’s Kamrup

district and ordered a probe to fix the responsibility for the breaches in the

embankment of the Puthimari on Sunday. The State government earlier suspended 12

personnel of the Water Resources Department in connection with the breach in

Matmora embankment that led to the worsening of the flood situation in Dhemaji

and Majuli.

 

Activists of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) blocked 20 Assam

Rifles trucks carrying relief materials to Bihar at Jorhat town on Sunday night.

They also disrupted loading of flood relief bound for Bihar at the Guwahati

railway station. The AJYCP activists alleged that though lakhs were hit by the

flood in Assam, no such special relief measures were initiated.

 

Manik Kar, who is associated with the Centre for Disaster Management at the

Tezpur University, attributed the worsening of the flood situation in Assam over

the years to the increase in the intensity of rainfall and the absence of a

proper flood management system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Yes the situation is bad in Assam.

 

I think the best organisations can do is to force themselves into the

elite panel/ committee of the National Disaster Mangaement so that in

a disaster or any natural calamity an SOS can be arranged.

 

I have been yelling this to our animal people but as I feel events

such as AfA draw more emotions than a tragedy.

 

Tsunamis, earthquakes do come without a warning but combating annual

floods can be planned.

 

Azam