Guwahati: From a schoolboy clinging to a tree with his mother through the night in his flooded school campus at Nazira to countless families taking refuge on rooftops, the devastating floods sweeping through Assam’s Sivasagar and Charaideo districts have left behind scenes of unprecedented destruction.Triggered by torrential runoff from the hills of neighbouring Nagaland, the deluge has marooned thousands and cut off entire villages. But a viral video of the boy, filmed at Hulang Katoni village about 4 km from Nazira town, has come to symbolise the scale of the disaster.“Hey people, we have not eaten anything but are eating leaves,” the minor boy, whose identity is yet to be established, says in the video while holding a leaf he claims he is about to eat.His mother and several other family members are also seen perched on the same tree, saying they spent the entire night there. “We have fallen sick,” one of them says, while another adds, “Our home is underwater, so we spent the night on the tree in the rain.” The video, filmed on Monday morning, shows floodwaters almost reaching the tin roofs of houses, with neighbouring areas completely submerged.Former Nazira MLA and senior Congress leader Debabrata Saikia described the flood situation as “terrifying” and “extremely critical” in a social media post. Sharing the boy’s video on Facebook, he appealed to the govt and district administration to immediately deploy the Army or SDRF/NDRF to rescue the family from Hulang Katoni village.“The water level is rising continuously and is about to touch the rooftops, leaving the trapped people’s lives in grave danger! I strongly urge the Govt of Assam, the district administration and the disaster management department to act without any delay on a war footing,” Saikia wrote.He said since Sunday night, families deprived of food, drinking water and shelter — including toddlers, elderly people, women and the sick — have been forced to survive on rooftops and tree branches.Saikia added that several well-known families, including those of freedom fighters, spent Sunday night on tin rooftops and remained stranded until Monday afternoon. He said he could not recall such a devastating flood in Nazira in the past.As mobile phone batteries drained and communication networks failed, many stranded families were unable to reach the administration or disaster management authorities. They were also unable to share their locations through smartphones to facilitate rescue operations.The situation was particularly severe in Sundar Pukhuri Kalita Gaon, Sundarpukhuri Hulang Gaon and Nirmoliya Gaon under Nazira Circle, where over 1,000 families — including elderly people, children, infants and persons with disabilities — remained trapped in roof-deep water since Sunday. Strong currents made roads impassable, forcing residents to remain on rooftops without food, drinking water or electricity.
