Heavy monsoon rains have been falling on the Indian state of Assam and neighbouring states for several days, causing floods which have now forced 500,000 people from their homes.

The Brahmaputra river has breached embankments in a number of places. A 100-metre section of the recently reconstructed, state-of-the-art Matmora embankment was washed away on 30 June. Water has been pouring into towns and villages.

ActionAid staff have carried out an assessment in Lakhimpur district where 98,000 people have been affected by the floods. They found people sheltering in schools and in makeshift camps on the Matmora and Moderguri embankments. Flood water has entered most schools and colleges and they are no longer safe to use as shelters. Families on the embankments have made temporary shelters from tarpaulin or galvanised iron sheets, but in the continuous heavy rain these makeshift shelters are inadequate.

There is no drinking water and no toilets. Many families have no containers for collecting water even if they could find it.

The ActionAid assessment team said that there is an immediate need for food, drinking water or purifying agents, animal fodder, tarpaulins, safe water storage vessels, hygiene kits, temporary toilets and mosquito nets.

Swapan, a programme officer in ActionAid’s Guwahati office, said: “Floods in Assam are an annual affair. Yet the government’s rescue and relief operations are not geared up to reach people in time, resulting in huge losses of property and livestock in addition to loss of human lives.”