Floods leave 5 lakh homeless in Assam

Nearly 500,000 people have been displaced by the floods,which have affected 10 of the state’s 27 districts,Assam’s Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman said. They include nearly 100,000 people marooned on Majuli island in the Brahmaputra River.

On Sunday,the overflowing river washed away five villages,forcing nearly 4,000 residents to flee to makeshift relief camps,said Barman. The area is nearly 130 kilometres east of Guwahati,the capital of Assam.

Last week,the Brahmaputra breached a 328-foot (100-meter) stretch of a newly built embankment. At least 300 villages in Lakhimpur district,about 220 miles (350 kilometres) north of Guwahati,have been inundated.