The flood situation continued to be grim in Assam with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday asking defence minister A.K. Antony to help the state administration in rescuing the population marooned in flood water.
Disclosing that the PM also spoke to education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to enquire about the flood situation, state government sources told this newspaper that a 70-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team was airlifted to Jorhat from Kolkata to help thousands of people stranded in flood hit Majuli, the river island where flood water has submerged at least 70 villages and devastated 30 others.
Majuli, which is the house of historical Vaishnavite monasteries of Assam, is facing threat to its existence.
Road and rail communication to Barak Valley in south Assam and neighbouring states of Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura were also cut off following landslides in Dima Hasao hill district and Meghalaya.
In worst-hit Lakhimpur, over two lakh people have been hit by flood in Brahmaputra and Subansiri rivers.