Assam floods have affected around 57 lakh people in the state.
Three days of extremely high rainfall may have been the biggest factor in triggering the massive floods in Assam that that have already affected 57 lakh people, forced 1.51 lakh to relief camps and left 30 people dead this month.
Rainfall data shared by the Regional Meteorological Centre in Guwahati with NDTV reveals that Assam received 95 per cent more rain than normal on July 13 and 127 percent more on July 14. The excess rainfall sharply spiked on July 15 - by 224 per cent.
"While Arunachal Pradesh got 4 per cent more than normal, Assam and Meghalaya got normal rains and in other states, there is 13 per cent deficiency still. On 6th July, northeast had a rain deficit of 38 per cent. It rains heavily between 13th to 16th July," said SO Shaw, a top official at the Guwahati weather office.
On July 16, the water level of the Brahmaputra in Guwahati reached very close to its highest level of 51.46 meters recorded during the devastating floods of 2004.
"More of the major tributaries that contribute to the flood potential of the Brahmaputra as well as cause floods in their own catchment have reached peak flood level all almost at same time," said Parthajyoti Das, a Guwahati-based environment scientist.
The Assam State Disaster Management Authority also warned in a bulletin that the Brahmaputra and its tributaries are flowing above the danger mark in various places in the state, including in Guwahati.
However, since there has been no rain in the last 24 hours, flood waters have started receding in parts of upper and central Assam.
Flood waters are also receding from the Kaziranga National Park where 51 animals have died so far.