Guwahati:

A four-year-old child died and two others died after a boat capsized in the Brahmaputra river in South Salmara-Mankachar district as Assam was hit by heavy rains and hailstorms, a senior official said on Monday. People are missing.

He said Union Home Minister Amit Shah called Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to inquire about the situation in the state and assured all assistance.

Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) chief executive Gyanendra Dev Tripathi said the sudden storm with hail and heavy downpour has hit the state since Sunday night. In many areas of the state, trees and power poles were uprooted and houses were damaged.

“Yesterday at 5 pm, a country boat sank in Nepurer Alga village while traveling from West Shumara Ghat to Nepurer Alga Ghat. Locals found the body of a child and two people are missing,” he told PTI .

Tripathi said the victims were identified as Samin Mondal (4), Kobat Ali Mondal (56) and Ismail Ali 8 years old) disappeared.

“The SDRF team started search operations this morning and they were joined by deep sea divers from Dhubri and Goalpara districts. The NDRF team is on its way to the spot to assist in the rescue operations,” he said.

The CEO said ASDMA was sending drones with pilots to conduct surveillance during the operation.

He said there were 15 passengers on board and the rest swam to safety with the help of locals from the nearby “Char” area (an island of river vegetation).

Tripathi also said that multiple lightning incidents occurred in various areas, but no casualties have been reported so far.

“We are still collecting reports from different areas, and some areas have not yet sent assessment reports. Only after the exercise is completed will we have a full picture of the damage,” he said.

Officials said rain and storms damaged homes, schools and stores across the state, as well as dozens of vehicles. Hundreds of tourists were stranded in the Garbhanga forest reserve near Guwahati until the early hours of Monday as uprooted trees blocked roads, they said.

“The district government’s rescue work continued until about 3 a.m. and the roads were cleared. Since it was Sunday, there were more people,” an official said.

People had a harrowing time reaching their destination in the morning as several roads were blocked and electricity poles and trees were scattered.

Meanwhile, Sarma posted on X that Shah’s assurance of full support and assistance for relief and recovery was deeply appreciated.

The India Meteorological Department on Sunday issued an “orange alert” and predicted “heavy to very heavy” rainfall in several northeastern states, including Assam, over the next five days.

In a special advisory, IMD’s Regional Meteorological Center (RMC) in Guwahati on Sunday issued an alert for Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

The states are likely to experience thunderstorms with lightning, heavy to very heavy rain, and wind gusts of 30-40 kilometers per hour, the report said.

The RMC issued a ‘yellow alert’ for these states for the next four days.

“Orange Alert” means “Be Prepared for Action” and “Yellow Alert” means “Watch and Update.” The weather forecast said that there is a cyclonic circulation over Assam at 1.5 km above the mean sea level.

Affected by the above-mentioned weather conditions and the intrusion of moisture from the Bay of Bengal into the northeastern region, light to moderate rains will occur in many places to most areas, and heavy to extremely heavy rains will occur locally.

Sudden downpours accompanying the storm also wreaked havoc at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bodoloi International Airport here on Sunday, prompting authorities to temporarily halt operations and divert six flights to other destinations. destination.

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