Villagers on a boat in a flood-hit area in Goalpara, Assam (PTI)

A fresh wave of flood has hit Assam, submerging five districts and affecting over 78,000 people, an official said on Sunday. The north-eastern state, which has been recuperating after several rounds of floods this year, saw 306 acres of land submerged in the fresh wave. Around 16,000 animals have also been affected, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority official said.Rains across the state and in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have caused flooding in Assam's Lakhimpur, South Salmara, Goalpara, Hojai and Karbi Anglong. Some 86 villages in seven revenue circles have been affected by the fresh wave of deluge with Goalpara on the Assam-Meghalaya border being the worst-hit, a report said.Over 41,000 people have been affected in Goalpara, followed by over 29,000 in South Salmara, the report by the disaster management authority said.Dhansiri river at Numaligarh in Golaghat was flowing above the danger mark, according to a Central Water Commission bulletin. Officials in the flood-hit districts had set up 18 relief camps, where 9,994 people had taken shelter, the report said.The State Disaster Response Force or SDRF have rescued 30 people in Goalpara, where an embankment at Khorija Manikpur was damaged, the official said, adding roads and culverts have been damaged at several locations in the five districts.

Seventy-six people died in the third wave of the floods last month, taking the total number of people who died in flood-related incidents in Assam to 160 this year, including eight in the capital Guwahati.Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has directed the deputy commissioners of the flood-hit districts to step up rescue and relief operations. He has also asked the deputy commissioners to ensure availability of all essential items at the relief camps, besides making all-out efforts to provide food, drinking water, baby food, fodder and medical help in the flood-hit areas, a government release said.