Guwahati, July 31 -- The toll in Assam floods rose to 82 as two more persons died, even as the number of affected people decreased to 1.92 lakh, an official bulletin said on Friday.

The Assam Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) bulletin said one of the two fatalities due to the deluge was reported from Nazira revenue circle of Sivasagar district, while the other was from Sonari in Charaideo.

With these fresh fatalities, the toll in this year's floods reached 82, it said, adding that no person was recorded as missing.

The five districts of Sivasagar, Golaghat, Jorhat, Nagaon and Charaideo continued to reel under the deluge, with 17 revenue circles and 379 villages remaining affected.

The number of affected people was at 1,92,799, with Charaideo remaining the worst-hit as 77,456 people were hit by the deluge, followed by Sivasagar (63,492) and Jorhat (34,067), the bulletin said.

The flood situation has improved since Thursday, when more than two lakh people in eight districts were affected.

A total of 54 relief camps were operational, sheltering 12,994 displaced people. Another 26 relief distribution centres were open, catering to 5,384 people, the flood

bulletin said.

Relief operations continued to be carried out by different agencies, including NDRF and SDRF. A crop area of 15,430 hectares remained submerged in the state, the bulletin said.

Damage to houses, roads and other infrastructure was also reported from the affected districts, it added.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said a special meeting of the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC), attended by representatives from the RBI, NABARD, SBI and all other commercial banks, decided on a relief scheme for the customers who availed loans in Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat districts.

"The SLBC decided that a moratorium of six months will be offered to all flood-affected people in these districts," he added. Sarma further said that the tenure of loans availed by all flood-affected people can be extended from one year up to seven years in all banks, depending on the type of debt.

He also said the state government placed its demand for a support package before the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), which concluded its four-day tour of flood-devastated districts in Upper Assam on Wednesday.

Sarma said the state government also demanded recognition of the Upper Assam floods as an "atypical, high-intensity, rapid-onset event" with flexible norms for damage assessment and assistance.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.