Assam Floods: Death Toll Rises To 17, Centre Releases Rs 251.55 Crore For Disaster Relief

With the worsening flood situation in Assam, the Centre on Tuesday (16 July) released Rs 251.55 crore as assistance from the central share of the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) for 2019-20, reports Indian Express.

Assam's Finance Minister and senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Himanta Biswa Sarma thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the prompt release of the funds as the death toll due to the rising waters has mounted to 17 and the floodwaters have submerged 30 of the 33 districts of the state.

“This shall immensely help in relief operations and mitigating suffering of people affected by Assam floods,” said Sarma.

As per the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 45 lakh people have been affected in 4,620 villages of the state with as many as 1,01,085 persons taking refuge in 226 relief camps. The authorities have set up as many as 562 distribution centres for providing relief to the affected people.

Among all districts, Barpeta has been reported to be worst hit with 7.35 lakh people affected, followed by Morigaon where 3.50 lakh people are hit. In Dhubri, around 3.38 lakh people have been affected, according to the ASDMA.