Over 500 families in flood-hit Assam set up temporary shelters on railway tracks

Over 500 families of two villages in Assam, inundated by the rains in Jamunamukh district, set up temporary shelters with tarpaulin sheets on railway tracks. The tracks were the only high ground in the area which was not affected by the flood waters.

Over 500 families from two villages of Assam’s flood-hit Jamunamukh district had to resort to living on railway tracks. They had to do this as the railway tracks were the only high ground that had not submerged in flood waters.

Residents of Changjurai and Patia Pathar village are still reeling from the fact that they lost almost everything in the Assam floods. They have refuge under temporary sheds constructed from tarpaulin sheets, reported NDTV.

The villagers claim that they have not received much help from the state government and district administration in the last five days.

The situation in Assam remains concerning. Over 8 lakh people in 2,585 villages of 29 districts have been hit by the unrelenting downpour. 14 people have died until now due to the landslides triggered by the rains.

Monwara Begum (43), from Paitha Pathar village, is currently living in a temporary shed. Four other families have joined her to survive the flood and all of them are living in inhumane conditions, with almost no food, under the same roof.

Monwara Begum said, “For three days we were under the open sky, we then took some money on credit and bought this tarpaulin sheet. We are five families living under the same sheet. There is no privacy.”

Another victim of the floods, Beauty Bordoloi, is also living with her family under a tarpaulin sheet. Her home in Changjurai village was lost in the floods. “Our harvest-ready crop was destroyed,” she says, adding, “The situation is uncertain and challenging. It is very difficult to live like this.”