Along with prayers, flood-hit Assam needs attention and help: Chhetri

New Delhi

Sunil Chhetri, captain of the Indian men's football team, on Friday called for attention and assistance for the northeastern state of Assam which has been battling with floods amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"Along with the prayers, Assam needs as much attention and help as possible to recover from the floods it is under," said Chhetri in a tweet.

"There's been considerable loss of life -- both man and animal and I can only sincerely hope that the numbers don't rise," he added.

Over 70 people have lost their lives while around 40 lakh people across 27 of the state's 33 districts have been affected by the floods in the state.

Though the flood affected 27 districts, 23 -- Dhemaji, Udalguri, Darrang, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Baksa, Lakhimpur, Chirang, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Majuli, Dibrugarh, West Karbi Anglong, Karbi Anglong and Tinsukia -- are the worst-hit.

Besides erosion of river banks at a large number of places, roads, embankments, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure have been damaged at many locations in 27 districts, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials said, adding that several hundred houses were fully or partially damaged due to the flood.

The National Disaster Response Force, and State Disaster Response Force personnel, along with the local administration, are continuously working to rescue the affected people and render relief services, including distribution of necessary material to the marooned villagers.