Eastern Assam floods worst in 60 years, says State Minister

The ongoing spate of floods in some eastern districts of Assam is the worst in 60 years, the state government said on Wednesday (July 22, 2026). The floods affected more than 8 lakh people and claimed the lives of at least 30 people in less than a month.

Responding to a brief debate on the flood situation in the 126-member Assam Assembly, State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika said the disaster in Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat districts, where “floods of this magnitude rarely occur”, was unprecedented. He said authorities in these areas were caught off guard after heavy rain in neighboring Nagaland triggered massive inflow of water.

Heavy rain in Nagaland’s Mon district had caused multiple landslides on July 19, killing at least nine people.

“These regions have been witnessing such devastating floods for over 60 years. This is a natural disaster on an unprecedented scale,” Mr. Hazarika said.

unimaginable scale

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who toured the affected areas on Wednesday, said that more than 8 lakh people have been affected by the floods so far. “Regions that normally experience high floods every year are not affected much this time. We need to get to the root of the problem.” [in Sivasagar, Charaideo, and Jorhat districts]]and discuss with Nagaland how to deal with this,” he said.

He said the damage was unimaginable. “There have been many deaths and more bodies are being recovered,” he added.

high deaths

In one of the highest single-day flood-related deaths recorded in recent times, 21 people died in the last 24 hours, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said in its midnight update on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. According to official estimates, 31 people have died so far in the current wave of floods; Almost half of these happened in Sivasagar district.

ASDMA said the situation worsened after a brief respite on Tuesday evening. Floodwaters hit 872 villages in 16 districts, barring five in the eastern part of the state, affecting 5.65 lakh people and a crop area of ​​24,210.35 hectares.

More rain is expected

Neighboring districts of Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat continued to be worst affected by the epidemic. Of the 21 deaths, 13 were reported to be from Sivasagar, five from Charaideo, two from Golaghat and one from Jorhat district.

“Of the 31 deaths due to floods so far, 25 people are from Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat. The other six people died in Dhemaji, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Sonitpur districts,” an ASDMA official said.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department has predicted moderate to heavy rains along with thunderstorms in Guwahati and other parts of Assam in the next four days. It warned of “aggravated waterlogging, floods, flash inundation, slow vehicular movement and increased risk of localized landslides in vulnerable areas” in Guwahati.