Photos: The annual anguish of a drowning Assam

Floods and heavy rains have affected more than 16 lakh people in Assam, with the authorities rushing to move them to makeshift relief camps.

The death toll has risen to 13 over the last five days, as the Brahmaputra and its tributaries continue to swell, submerging houses, farmlands and the Kaziranga National Park.

More than 1.3 lakh people have been shifted to relief camps in 21 districts. The rescue and relief efforts are being assisted by the Army, and the National and State Disaster Response Force personnel.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority said that nearly 2,700 villages in 71 revenue circles are inundated in Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Bongaigaon, Jorhat, Dhemaji, Sivasagar, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Nagaon, Dibrugarh, Chirang, Goalpara, Tinsukia, Dhubri, Morigaon, Sonitpur, Biswanath, Darrang and Nalbari districts.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has suspended the Assembly Budget session for two days. As he flew to his home constituency – the worst-affected Majuli island – he asked all other legislators to visit their constituencies to help with the relief operations.

Sonowal has declared an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the families of each of the deceased, promising that the amount will be paid this week itself, PTI reported.

State Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma told the Indian Express that the situation is very critical. “This time the flood of Assam was very dangerous,” she said. “It has spread to every district.”

Social media has been flooded with helpful posts.

The overflowing Brahmaputra has submerged about 90% of the southern part of Kaziranga National Park. It also resulted in an elephant being stranded in Bangladesh. The Centre has set up a rescue team to get the animal back.

Divisional Forest Officer Suvasish Das said the forest staff of KNP’s Agoratoli Range rescued 70 people from two submerged villages.

Here are some disturbing images on social media.