The flood situation in Assam is improving gradually. People are returning to their homes from relief camps.

The river Brahmaputra is still flowing 87 cms above danger level at Dibrugarh with a falling trend. River Kopili in Morigaon/Dharamtul is flowing 61 cms above danger level with a falling trend . River Dhansiri at Golaghat is flowing 96 cms above danger level with a rising trend. At Numaligarh, it is flowing 137 cms above danger level with a rising trend. River Kushiyara in Karimganj continue to flow above danger level with a falling trend. River Jiabharal in Sonitpur, Puthimari at Rangia and Sankosh in Dhubri are flowing with a falling/steady trend but below danger level. River Brahmaputra is flowing below danger level at Neematighat, Guwahati and Tezpur but with a rising trend. At Goalpara and Dubri, it is flowing below danger level wit h a falling/steady trend. All other rivers and their tributaries in Assam continue to flow below danger level with a falling trend.

National Highways:

NH-31, NH-31B, NH-31C, NH-37, NH-44, NH-52, NH-52A, NH-54 (Silchar-Lailapur & Silchar-Shilong)) NH-151 ( heavy vehicles ) are through for traffic. Traffic on NH-53 at Silchar -- Badarpur section is through for all traffic while at Silchar-Jiribam it is through only for light traffic only. Bus/Truck movement upto 29 km on NH-152 is through and bl ockage at 29 km is also likely to be removed within a couple of days. NH -154 continues to be disrupted and it will take about 8 days for its restoration.

Rail links: The Guwahati Lumding section continues to be disrupted between Jamunamukh-Jugijan and is likely to be restored by 3rd August,2004. The Rangiya-Murkongselek section is operational upto Lakhimpur. The Lumding Badarpur Section on Metre Gauge continues to be disrupted and restoration will take time.

Damage assessment: All the 27 districts of the State are affected by floods. The damage reported is as follows:- (as on 29.07.2004)

Relief:. The details of rescue and relief operations are as follows: (As on 29.07.2004)

Assistance requested from the Central Government and the action taken

Helicopters: Out of 7 helicopters deployed, 4 were derequisitioned earlier and remaining 3 have been derequisitioned on 30 th July,2004 .

Army Columns: 24 composite flood relief columns continue to be depl oyed for carrying out rescue and relief operations. 3 relief columns were derequisitioned from Cachar.

Relief & Rescue:. The details of relief and rescue as on 30.7.2004 are as under: -

Road Communications: The Bailey Bridges have been installed at five locations. Two sites are still inundated.

Specialists Team: A Specialist SAR team of CISF is providing medical relief.

Telecommunications: The telecommunication links to all the District Headquarters have been restored and are functional. As on 30 th July, only 15 rural exchanges were down .

Satellite phones: Ten sets of Satellite phones are still in use.

Rail movement: There is no shortage of essential commodities in the State. The priority allotment of rakes for movement of essential commodities for Assam continues. A total of 100 rakes of essential commodities were moved to Assam from 9th July to 28th July, 04 and more are on move.

Foodgrains: There are adequate stocks of foodgrains in Assam and other North Eastern States.

Medicines: 50 lakh halogen tablets , 10 lakh ORS packets, 100 MT of bleaching powder and 2000 vials of anti-snake venom have already been supplied. An additional, 50 lakh halogen tablets are being procured. Ministry of Health is taking action to send an additional 140 MT of Bleaching Powder and 10,000 packets of ORS to the State.

Epidemic surveillance: There are scattered cases of Dysentery and Diarrhea and Ministry of Health have advised the Government of Assam to take all precautionary measures to prevent outbreak of any epidemic.

Visit of the Central Team

An Inter-Ministerial Central Team constituted for detailed assessment of the flood situation in Assam visited the flood-affected areas from 25th to 28th of July, 2004.

BIHAR

The flood situation has improved considerably over the past few days. The river Bagmati at Benibad and Hayag hat and Burhi Gandak in Samastipur and Rosera; are flowing marginally above danger level with a falling trend. The river Kosi at Khagaria is flowing 140 cm above danger level with falling trend but below its HFL. River Adhwara Group at Darbhanga c ontinue to flow above danger level but with a falling trend.. All other rivers are flowing below danger level with a falling trend.

Road Communication: Road communications continue to be disrupted at a number of places both on National Highways as al so on the State roads. The position regarding some of the important stretches where traffic is closed is as under:-

NH-31- Pasraha Zone: Traffic restored in half lane.

NH-57 -- Gaighat-Darbhanga-Jhanharpur and Forbesganj -Simrahi sections:

NH-77- Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi -- Sonebarsa section: Traffic restored upto km.29

NH-104 -- Chakia-Madhuban-Sheohar section: Traffic restored up to km.45 Bhittamore-Narhiya section: Traffic restored from Jainagar to Laukaha Sitamarhi-Sheohar-Kumma and Sitamarhi-Bhittamore section:

NH-105- Jainagar-Darbhanga section:

NH-106- Madhepura-Bihpur section: NH-107- Maheshkunt-Sonebarsaraj; Sonebarsaraj -Simri and Bakhtiyarpur-Bariyarpur-Saharsa sections

Rail Links:. Train services remained suspended on a number of routes. The Meter Gauge in the North and North-East Bihar is the worst affected. The details of the sections closed are as under:-

Raxaul-Sitamarhi: 2 Sections on Darbhanga-Narkatiaganj line .

Sitamarhi- Darbhanga: 3 Sections on Darbhanga -Narkatiaganj, 1 on Darbhanga-Raxaul and 1 on Jhanjharpur- Laukaha Bazar lines.

Jhanjharpur-Nirmali: 1 section on Darbhanga-Nirmali line .

Mansi-Saharsa: 1 section on Mansi-Saharsa line.

Samastipur-Darbhanga: disrupted at 4 locations on this sector.

Samastipur-Mansi: 2 locations

Damage : The damage reported is as follows: -

Relief: The State Government is carrying out relief operations. The details are as follows:-

Assistance requested from the Central Government and the action taken.

Army Assistance

All the 10 Army columns have been derequisitioned. Four helicopters continue to be retained by the State Government

Telecommunications: As on 30.07.2004, 35 Rural telephone exchanges are still out of order. Telephone links to all district and Sub Divisions stand restored.

Satellite Phones: 5 satellite phones and other communication equipment sent to the State are still deployed.

Foodgrains: Department of Food & Public Distribution have issued the release orders for 50,000 MT each of rice and wheat for providing GR to affected people. There are adequate stocks with the FCI in the State.

Kerosene Oil: The State Government had requested for 10 lakh litres of additional allocation of K-Oil. The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas have allocated the entire quantity.

Medicines: 50 lakh halogen tablets, 2000 vials of anti snake venom, post flood health care drugs and 5 lakh packets of ORS and post health care medicines have been supplied. 100 MT bleaching powder is being sent ex -Durgapur. Supply of additional 50 lakh halogen tablets and remaining essential drugs is being finalized. There are reports of scattered cases t o dysentery and diarrhea and the Ministry of Health have advised the Government of Bihar to take all precautionary measures to prevent outbreak of any epidemic.

Cattle Care: The State Govt. is making arrangements to procure 10,000 -15,000 MT of dry fodder from Punjab and is also arranging the fodder locally from the non-affected districts. Arrangements for veterinary care have also been made.

Visit of the Central Team

An Inter-Ministerial Central Team has been constituted for detailed assessment of the flood situation in Bihar and the team is visiting the flood affected areas from 3rd August,2004.

Other States

ARUNACHAL PRADESH

The Government of Aruanachal Pradesh reported incidents of heavy rains/ floods between 13th to 26th July,2004. 2.69 lakh persons in 130 villages in 7 districts have been affected. Eleven persons are reported to have lost their lives. Road communication was disrupted besides damage to bridges, culverts, power house etc. State Government have instructed the concerne d District Administrations to carry out rescue and relief operations in the affected areas. An Inter- Ministerial Central Team has been constituted to visit the State for damage assessment.