The toll in the Assam floods has reached 48 with reports of 11 more people dying on Friday in three districts.

Five persons died in Dhubri district and three each in Barpeta and Morigaon.

Floodwaters receded in different districts and those who had taken shelter in relief camps are returning home. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the number of relief camp inmates came down by 77,000 on Friday during the past 24 hours. Altogether 1.47 lakh people are still in relief camps.

The ASDMA said 48 lakh people in 27 districts were affected by the floods as on Friday. The number of affected population and districts were 53 lakh and 28 respectively on Thursday.

In Kaziranga the flood water level was reported to be falling and has receded by approximately 130cm. A total of 110 wildlife deaths have been reported since July 13 in the park.

Governor Jagdish Mukhi on Friday reviewed the flood situation in the presence of chief secretary Alok Kumar and senior officials of the revenue and disaster management department here.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at Neematighat (Jorhat), Guwahati (Kamrup), Goalpara and Dhubri. The Dhansiri is in spate at Numaligarh (Golaghat), the Jia Bharali at N.T. Road crossing (Sonitpur) and the Kopili at Dharamtul (Nagaon).

Cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sharma on Friday visited Barchala and Sitalmari in Sonitpur district to take stock of the flood-affected villages that have been identified as the worst flood-affected area in the district.

He interacted with the people and assured them of a permanent solution to the perennial flood problem. He also handed over Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of two-year-old Mariom Nesa who drowned in the floodwaters.

Sarma said an embankment would be constructed from Sitalmari to 1 Bacha Simalu area in Dhekiajuli.

He was accompanied by Dhekiajuli MLA Ashok Singhal, Barchala MLA Ganesh Limbu and Sonitpur deputy commissioner Narshing Pawar.

Meanwhile, the Brahmaputra continued to engulf several hectares of land, along with houses, in Jonai subdivision in Dhemaji district.

“Flood and erosion compelled us to take shelter here three years ago. This year our house was washed away again,” Satish Pegu of Berachapori village said on Friday.

Pegu said out of 25 families living at Berachapori, many have moved to their relatives’ houses and procured land there.

“I have two children and my mother to take care of. Where will we go? I work as a daily wage labourer in Jonai town,” he said. “How many years will we have to fight for survival? Since my childhood, we are having to shift nearly every year. The government supplies relief material during floods but once the waters recede, no one cares about our suffering. The only solution is to dredge rivers as they have heavy silt deposits,” Pegu said.

Film director Rima Das and writer Maini Mahanta donated Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 respectively to the chief minister’s relief fund on Friday.

• Additional reporting by our Tezpur correspondent and Vinod Kumar Singh in Dhemaji