Heavy rainfall affects 700 villages in Assam, India as Brahmaputra levels rise

Heavy monsoon rains are continually falling in Arunachal Pradesh and upper Assam in northeast India. Yesterday, water levels of the Brahmaputra river were above the red mark in Jorhat and Dhubri, and are still expected to rise further in the next few days. 

According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the flooding has affected over 700 villages (3 lakh/300 000 people) across the districts of Barpeta, Sonitpur, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Darrang, Nalbari, Goalpara, Jorhat, Kamrup, Baksa, Dibrugarh, Kamrup, Nagaon, Bongaigaon. At least 2 people died in the districts of Bongaigaon and Lakhimput, since the beginning of the floods on June 7, 2015.

Brahmaputra river level at Dhubri stood at 29.0 meters today at 09:00 local time. The measured level is above the warning level of 27.62 meters and the danger level of 28.62 meters. The record level at Dhubri is 30.36 meters, as measured in 1988. CWC reported 36.4 mm of rain in Dhubri yesterday.

The measured level of Brahmaputra at Neamatighat in Jorhat district was 85.22 meters, at 12 pm local time today, which is above the danger level of 85.04 meters. The water levels are currently steady at Neamatighat. The highest level recorded was in 1991, when the river reached 87.37 meters.

India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued weather warnings for the next few days for several states, particularly in the east of the country.

They say from June 12 – 15, 2015, “heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur at a few places with extremely heavy fall at isolated places over Assam and Meghalaya” and also that “heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur at isolated places over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh”.

Image credit: IMD/INSAT.

Further south, Bangladesh Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said on June 10 all the major river systems are in rising trend which may likely to continue in next 48 hours." According to the information of Bangladesh Meteorological Department the north eastern part of Bangladesh is experiencing heavy rainfall which may continue in next 48 hours.

Flood situation in some low lying areas of Sunamganj and Sylhet (Bangladesh) districts may further deteriorate.

In neighboring Nepal, at least 55 people have died and more than 80 were injured when rain-triggered landslide hit the Taplejung district on June 10, 2015 affecting the villages of Liwang, Thokling, Thinglabu and Lingket.

Featured image: NASA Aqua/MODIS image acquired June 12, 2015.