While India grapples with the long-term effects of the pandemic, floods are ravaging Assam, leaving thousands of lives at risk. The number of people affected by the deluge remains at a staggering figure of over 6 lakhs. People have lost their homes and their livelihoods. The consequences for the most marginalised communities, especially children, adolescents and women are worrying. Roads remain submerged, people are cut off from essential amenities, and clean water is scarce as supplied have been ripped out of the ground. Those who were already living in poverty are suffering the most. Heart-wrenching stories of displaced families with children wading through contaminated waters are being reported.
The deluge which was brought about by the pre-monsoon rainfall that overflowed the Brahmaputra and its tributaries thus triggering deadly landslides and floods up to waist deep in some areas. It is said to continue over the next few weeks. Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by flood waters in Cachar, Udalguri, Dhubri, Karimganj, Nagaon, Nalbari, Dima Hasao, Goalpara and Hojai.
According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), nearly 3.56 lakh people are still affected in Cachar district while 1.42 lakh people are affected in Morigaon district. 38751 people have still lodged in 114 relief camps in eight districts. The report also stated that 390 villages and 7368 hectares of cropland are still under flood waters. The people of the state are now worried over the post-flood complications including diseases. As the flood water starts receding, there is an increased risk of water-borne diseases through direct contact with polluted waters.
In order to support those people who are in distress, SEEDS has come forward to reach out to those people who are in real and dire need of help and support in various parts of Assam through providing relief in the form of ration kits, hygiene kits, school kits, and other essential items.
We appeal to your generosity to provide the vulnerable communities in Assam with much needed relief assistance from this devastating calamity. Together, we can help and make a difference.
UPDATES FROM GROUND ZERO
Speedy Response
Reacting to the pressing needs and urgency of the situation in Assam, our team started immediate relief efforts in Assam. SEEDS is working closely with the local partners and volunteers and to facilitate dry ration, food, essential items, and temporary relief such as hygiene kits for the families who have been affected in most affected parts of the state. Through inclusive targeting of vulnerable groups, protection mainstreaming and life-saving intervention, SEEDS’s response ensures that the affected, excluded, and unreached communities receive timely and need-based support.
Taking Steps Toward Clean Water
After floods struck Cachar and several other districts in Assam, communities watched flood waters rise into their homes and limit their access to clean drinking water. In the aftermath of the disaster, underserved communities are facing an acute clean water shortage compounded with the fact that hundreds of families have been displaced from their homes. Forced to resort to using contaminated water sources, communities are at risk of bearing water-borne illnesses To address this need, SEEDS is working with partners on the ground to help those affected by water insecurity. In Kalain block of Cachar, tribal families in who stayed in schools and temples for more than a week as the water levels rose, are gradually returning to their flood ravaged uninhabitable homes. Their primary source of water is the community well which has been contaminated due to the floods.
Our teams have undertaken well chlorination in the most affected villages in Kalain, starting with Konapara. Here the residing families are dependent on these two wells which were cleaned and chlorination with the active participation of Seva Kendra Volunteers. Additionally, we are providing shelter assistance to the affected families in the area, who are living through unthinkable situations.
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For further information contact:
Mr. Sidarth Sharma, Resource Mobilisation and Partnership
Mobile: +91 9136001392 | Email: ssharma@seedsindia.org