Tezpur/Silchar, June 22:A six-year-old boy, Zakarul Islam, drowned in the Jia Bharali river at Singitoli under Borghat police station in Sonitpur district this afternoon.

Sonitpur deputy commissioner Manoj Kumar Deka said the boy slipped and fell into the river while he was playing. A search operation was under way in the river. Singitoli is near Tezpur University.

The Jia Bharali enters Assam through Bhalukpong in Arunachal Pradesh. The original name is the Kameng that originates from Tawang district in the eastern Himalayas and changes its name at Nameri in Sonitpur district and it is a major tributary of the Brahmaputra, meeting just east of Koliabhomura bridge here.

The water level in tributaries of the Jia Bharali was also rising but was yet to affect any village in Tezpur subdivision.

Floodwaters in Gohpur subdivision of Biswanath district in central Assam has receded as the water level of the Satrang river receded. Gohpur is 320km northeast of Guwahati.

The floodwaters in ward 6 of Gohpur town, where two houses were washed away yesterday, have receded today. The Gohpur subdivisional administration has undertaken reconstruction work in the area where 58 people of 14 families were affected.

Official sources, however, said the Brahmaputra and its tributaries have been swelling and crossed the danger mark at some parts with rainwater flowing down from the adjoining foothills of Arunachal Pradesh.

Incessant rain has disrupted road connection to different destinations in eastern Arunachal Pradesh as road widening work is in progress from Likabali to Aalo, the district headquarters of West Siang, which also connects Daporijo, headquarters of Upper Subansiri district.

In south Assam's Barak Valley, the flood situation has substantially improved with water in all the rivers of the three districts receding in the past 24 hours.

According to data obtained from Karimganj water resources division this afternoon, the water level of the Singla and the Kushiara have gone down, while the Longai is flow just above the danger level.

On an average, the Singla and the Kushiara are 0.85 m below the danger level. There has been 1.92mm rainfall in Karimganj district in the past 24 hours and this year the total rainfall so far has been 3,062.60mm.

Karimganj water resources division executive engineer Achinta Roy said, "Water was receding in all the rivers in the district. However, the situation can deteriorate if heavy rainfall occurs for long time, especially in hilly areas."

In Hailakandi district, the water level of the Katakhal, the Dhaleshwari have also receded. Both the rivers flow through all the parts of the district. They are 0.98m below danger level on an average. There has been no rainfall in Hailakandi district in the past 24 hours.

According to data from Silchar water resources division, the water level of the Barak was 17.49 metres at 9am. Its danger level is 19.83 metres. There has been 17.20mm rainfall in Cachar district in the past 24 hours.

Last year, the district experienced 3,340.04mm rainfall in total.

Additional reporting by Vinod Kumar Singh in Dhemaji