200,000 displaced as floods wreak havoc in Assam

Guwahati: Flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains in the northeastern Indian state of Assam have displaced an estimated 200,000 people in the past two days with authorities sounding an alert as more than 300 villages were inundated, officials said on Friday.

"Four districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Jorhat and Nagaon were hit by the current wave of flooding that has left about 200,000 people displaced in some 350 villages during the past two days," said Assam Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister Bhumidhar Barman.

Most of the displaced people are now lodged at makeshift shelters on raised embankments.

"We are providing food and medical support to the flood-hit people," Barman said. There have been several breaches in embankments in Dhakhukhana area in Lakhimpur district; besides at least two dikes have been washed away in South Asia's biggest river island of Majuli in Jorhat district.