What happened
Assam’s flood situation showed further signs of easing on Tuesday, with no fresh deaths recorded for a second straight day and the number of affected people continuing to decline, according to the state government’s latest update. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said relief operations have been expanded to reach more people and areas, with the overall toll for this year’s floods holding steady at 68 and eight people still listed as missing.
The chief minister’s update put the number of people currently affected at over 11.44 lakh across 25 districts, 77 revenue circles and 2,157 villages, while a separate same-day bulletin from the Disaster Reporting and Information Management System narrowed the currently-inundated count to 4,45,495 people across six districts, Sivasagar, Golaghat, Charaideo, Jorhat, Nagaon and Kamrup (Metropolitan), a decline from more than 5.24 lakh people the previous day. The gap between the two figures reflects that the larger number is a cumulative season tally while the smaller one tracks only areas still underwater.
More than 71,000 people are currently housed in 215 relief camps, with another 1,690 relief distribution centres operating across the state. Water levels at major gauge stations, including Desangmukh, Jhanji, Demow and Dikhou, were recorded as falling as of Tuesday morning, and Sivasagar, one of the worst-hit districts through the season, has shown particular improvement. A central government team visited Sivasagar to assess damage and review recovery efforts.
Background
This year’s flooding has been unusually severe. Sarma said earlier in the season that the state had recorded more than 400 percent excess rainfall compared with normal levels, describing the cause as an extraordinary rain event rather than conventional riverine flooding. A cloudburst upstream in mid-July sent a sudden surge of water through Upper Assam, hitting Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat particularly hard, with the Dikhou river breaching its highest recorded flood level in the area.
The season’s death toll climbed sharply in the days that followed, at one point rising by 14 in a single 24-hour period, before beginning to plateau over the past several days as rainfall eased and river levels started to recede. Nearly 30,000 people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas since the flooding began, and authorities have recorded damage to 1,180 houses, with a further 9,926 partially damaged.
Official response
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, agricultural land and livestock have also taken a heavy hit, with tens of thousands of hectares of cropland submerged over the course of the season and animals reported washed away in the worst-affected districts. The Army, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Fire and Emergency Service and Assam Police have all been engaged in rescue and relief operations, deploying boats and rescue equipment in flood-hit areas.
Sarma said in a social media update that power supply, which had been suspended as a precaution in several districts, is being restored in a phased manner following safety inspections, with teams working across Sivasagar, Jorhat, Charaideo, Dhubri, Bongaigaon and other affected areas. He said food grains, medical support and, where necessary, air-dropped supplies are continuing to reach affected communities, and that post-flood rehabilitation, including repair of damaged schools and infrastructure, would follow once the immediate relief phase is complete.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post on social media, said he was “deeply distressed” by the floods and called for the Union and state governments to mobilise every available resource for rescue, relief and rehabilitation, including the release of assistance from the PM-CARES Fund and compensation for those who lost lives, homes or livelihoods.
Photo: PTI
What’s next
Officials said the coming days will depend heavily on whether rainfall stays subdued and river levels continue to fall. The Dhansiri (South) river at Numaligarh remains above the danger mark, and authorities are continuing to monitor it closely even as no rivers in the state currently exceed their highest recorded flood level. With the immediate emergency easing in several districts, the state government’s focus is expected to shift gradually from rescue toward rehabilitation, including infrastructure repair, compensation processing and restoring normal life for displaced families.
Photo: PTI
Sources: Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) daily flood bulletin and Disaster Reporting and Information Management System (DRIMS), July 28, 2026; official updates from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma; wire reporting via PTI and ANI.
Editorial note: All three images in this piece are real PTI photographs carried alongside published coverage of the floods, not illustrations. None depicts graphic injury or death, in keeping with restrained treatment of a story involving loss of life. Their further-use licensing should be confirmed with PTI before publication.
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