Wary about the back draft of the River Brahmaputra and its tributary, Jinjiram, overrunning low lying areas in the plain belt, an alert has been sounded by the district administration asking people to be extra vigilant.
Floods in the plain belt of Garo Hills have been an annual feature with rains in the upper reaches of Assam taking a few days to affect the plain belt. Assam has, once again this year been overwhelmed by the River Brahmaputra with more than 3 lakh affected. A few have also lost their lives in the current deluge.
For the Garo Hills region however, while the situation is not dire yet, it still is a cause of concern. An early morning check of the town of Phulbari saw the Jinjiram River almost crossing its banks. With more rains forecast in the next few days, the situation is likely to worsen before it gets any better.
Many parts of the plain belt, including low lying areas in Rajpur, Shyamnagar, Charbatapara, Haribhanga have seen water levels rise. Residents have been asked to be vigilant in case levels cross the danger mark.
“Normally if the Kaziranga National Park floods, it is expected that the plain belt will also come under water in the next few days. We pray the situation will pass soon and there will not be too much damage to bear this time,” said a Phulbari resident, SR Sangma.
The Brahmaputra yesterday rose about 15cm and is just above the danger mark. The river is expected to rise further once the back draft of the Brahmaputra kicks in. The river, as per information from sources, crossed the danger mark three days ago.
Meanwhile the Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills, Ram Singh, was today on a recce of the affected areas in the plain belt and confirmed about the circular.
“The situation is being closely monitored and I am currently touring the area,” said the DC.
