Two children negotiate an inundated bank of the Beki river in Baksa, 200 km north of Guwahati (AFP)

July 20: Assam governor Lt Gen. (retd) Ajai Singh today took stock of the flood situation as it turned grim in several parts of the state with the Brahmaputra and its tributaries still flowing above the danger level.

Singh visited the control room set up at Dispur for an official briefing on the flood situation and assured that every possible help and cooperation would be provided.

He met relief and rehabilitation minister Gautam Roy and senior state government officials and expressed satisfaction over the rescue operations undertaken by the government.

The governor was also pleased with the preparedness of the administration to cope with the crisis.

The first wave of floods has already claimed 13 people, and toll is expected to rise. More than 1.83 lakh people, 414 villages and 23,841 hectares of agricultural land have been affected so far.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger mark in Dibrugarh, Sonitpur, Goalpara, Dhubri and Jorhat while its tributaries, the Burhidihing, Jia Bhorali, Puthimari, Pagladiya, Beki, Sankosh, Subansiri, Dhansiri and Manas, continue to inundate various parts of the state.

Incessant rains and rising water levels have washed away embankments, threatening to submerge entire villages.

In Nalbari district, an embankment of river Mora Pagladiya was breached. Nearly 30 metres of the embankment on the Nona river at Rangiya in Kamrup district was washed away, submerging over 12 villages, affecting nearly 20,000 people, including those living in the Dodotia, Kumtibari and Gopalpur.

The Kamrup district administration has launched rescue and rehabilitation operation in the affected area under the supervision of subdivisional officer of Rangiya, M. Angamathu. No casualty, however, has been reported so far.

The district administration said the Borolia and Puthimari rivers are also swelling increasingly, threatening to submerge fresh areas.

The Borolia river has swept an embankment near Rangiya, flooding parts of the town.

The flood situation in Upper Assam districts is showing signs of improvement, though the Brahmaputra continues to flow above the danger mark in Dibrugarh.

Dhemaji deputy commissioner D. Baruah said over phone that National Highway 52 had been repaired and road communication with Guwahati and the rest of the country had been restored.

The police and civil administration have also been put on high alert for rescue operations.

The Brahmaputra and one of its tributaries, Burhidihing, has swelled alarmingly over the past week due to heavy rain in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Central Water Commission officials, however, have said that the water level would come down in the next 24 hours.