More than 500 families from the villages of Changjurai and Patia Pathar in Jamunamukh district of Assam are living along railway tracks as it is the only high ground left in the area not submerged in water.
Incessant rains lashed Assam over the past few days, triggering floods and mudslides that have disrupted lives of many people, washing away their houses and crops. One of the worst in recent years, the flood has affected the lives of over seven lakh people and taken the Assam flood death toll to 14.
Flood victims from Changjurai and Patia Pathar villages, who have lost their homes and crops, have set up makeshift homes made of tarpaulin sheets along the railway track which links Guwahati to other parts of Assam and neighbouring states, NDTV reported.
The victims said they have not received much help from the state government or district administration in the last five days and are worried about how long they can continue like this.
There is an acute crisis of food and drinking water in the area.
There are five families from Patia Pathar village who have taken shelter under one sheet near the tracks after their homes were destroyed in the floods.
"For three days we were under the open sky, we then took some money on credit and bought this tarpaulin sheet," Monwara Begum, 43, told NDTV.
Another flood victim Beauty Bordoloi from Changjurai village said their harvest-ready paddy crop was destroyed by the floods. Her relative Sunanda Doloi said they had to limit their food intake to one meal. They had received some flattened rice over the last four days, she said.
Nasibur Rehman from Patia Pathar said that some of them had received help from the government yesterday.
“They gave us little rice, dal and oil. But some have not received even that," Rehman said.
Of the 33 districts in the state, 29 were hit by the pre-monsoon rains, The Times of India reported. The Indian army, Assam Riffles and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are carrying out rescue operations in the flood-hit areas. The Centre has sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore to the state to deal with the current flood situation, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
