A risky boat ride through flood waters and a walk for a few miles through inundated paddy fields lead to the fringes of Hatigarh in Assam's Nagaon district - one of the worst-hit in the state.
The area is completely submerged by an overflowing Kopili river.and water released from the Barapani dam in neighbouring Meghalaya.
In a matter of only two days, hundreds of families find themselves marooned as the excess water submerged village after village.
41-year-old Lilabati Das can't hold back her tears as she looks at her home. Her mud hut has already given way to flood waters, waist-deep currently and rising higher by the hour.
She and her family of seven are stranded, with their ten bighas of farmland destroyed. The yield from these lands would have fed them for a year and fetched the family an income of at least Rs one lakh. But there is nothing left now.
"We had taken a loan of Rs 50 thousand for paddy cultivation in our ten bighas of land. How will we repay now? We are eating only one meal a day and we don't have resources to move somewhere else as well. We are waiting for government help, " Lilabati Das told NDTV.
Her 80-year-old father-in-law has seen many floods, but this one, he says, is unprecedented.
"This time it's massive, " said Mangal Das.
Amid rising flood waters in Assam, the challenge for the government is to fast track its rescue and relief operations but for hundreds of families like Lilabati's, every flood is a challenge for survival. This time around many are left without cropland, without grains ,money and even a country boat to go to safer places, all they are waiting for is government help to reach them.
Although Nagaon and adjoining Hojai districts have been the focus of rescue operations, involving the Army, NDRF and state forces, it's not enough.
In many areas, locals are trying to rescue marooned people without any outside help.
"In a vast area in circle, people are stranded with villages completely inundated. They have no resources left. Many don't have boats as it's the first time in many years that a massive flood has come their way," Ranjit Sarkar, a local, told NDTV.
Locals are trying to rescue people even at the dead of the night.
"Many panchayats here are cut off from all sides by rising flood waters, resulting in shortage of essential items. Government is trying to but it's not adequate," said Harmohan Roy, who is leading the rescue operations by the locals.
In Dima Hasao, there's a sense of slight relief with the internet back, and Air Force sorties bringing essential supplies and airlifting stranded villagers.
The main link road is now partially open to traffic but it's still a long journey back normalcy.
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