People take shelter along Indo-Bangla border in Cachar to escape floods

Silchar: Several people in Cachar district’s Katigorah assembly constituency in southern Assam have begun moving to safer places, leaving their homes, after several areas were inundated because of heavy rainfall over the past 48 hours.

Since Tuesday, nearly a hundred families took shelter by pitching tents along the India-Bangladesh international border. The areas near the border where the people are staying include Borbond, Kinnarkhal, Harinagar and Aatnami, among others.

These areas are within 8-15km of Katigorah police station. Huge crowds at relief camps and waterlogging in and around a few camps are forcing people to search for safer places. The areas along the India-Bangladesh border, which are safer in comparison to the other low-lying areas across Katigorah, seem to be a suitable option, at least for now.

On Wednesday and Thursday, many areas were deluged by waters from the Barak river, causing panic among people. With river waters swallowing up one area after another, residents had no option but to leave their shelters and look for other places to stay and survive.

They eventually went to areas near the international border and set up tents. The residents, who received help from the BSF in setting up their tents, appealed to the authorities to provide food and water and help them in these troubled times.

The tendency of moving to safer places as early as possible among the people of Katigorah is presumably out of premonition triggered by the deaths of two residents (including a child and a woman), who died in floods recently, the sources said.

A group of residents of a village in West Katigorah said on Thursday said this year’s flood situation is reminiscent of the 2004 flood, which had wreaked large-scale havoc in Assam and Barak Valley.

Such is the situation that waters are flowing above people’s houses, and thus residents are compelled to run to safer places for survival, they said.

Katigorah circle officer A. Minerva Devi told reporters that 84 relief camps have been set up across the constituency, and nearly 12,000 people are staying in them. They have been provided with relief materials (food, water), Devi said.

Cachar deputy commissioner, on Wednesday, said the flood situation in the district is not good and urged the general public to not venture out unless they have essential and emergency reasons. The DC made the appeal via a video on Wednesday evening.

Katigorah is one of the worst affected places in the Cachar district / Barak Valley. The areas witnessing floods/flash floods include Khelma, Mahadebpur, Talkor Grant, Narapati, Rajpur, Namargram, Kandigram, Saraspur, Paikan and Manikpur, among others.

A weather bulletin issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati on Thursday predicted more rainfall in Barak Valley for at least May 23.

Also Read | Assam govt inks pact with FlyBig to ferry flood-hit people