Sivasagar (Assam) [India], August 2 : When floodwaters raced into the Nepali Khuti area in Assam's Sivasagar district on July 19, a small group of local villagers armed with nothing but six country-made boats became the difference between life and death for over people across five villages.
Sivasagar has been among the worst-hit districts in this year's flood, with large parts of the district submerged, homes and shops wrecked.
Locals who helped with the rescue recall that the water rose to a dangerous level and entered homes, forcing many families onto rooftops, machans, and tree branches.

Chouhan Choudhury, one of the rescue team members, described the speed with which the disaster unfolded.
"We were at home, but the water came at such a speed. We started saving others using boats. We have never seen something like this. We had six boats, including mine and others. We rescued the people whose houses were torn apart, who were stuck, and took them to town on these boats. We saved over 1000 people from 5 villages," he said.
The six boats were country-made and never built for a crisis of this scale but became the lifeline for many.
For many of the rescuers, the operation began the moment their own families were secure.
Kanahaiya Choudhury said, "We returned for household items after dropping our family to safety, but there was no time for that. We were getting calls that people were stuck and to get them, so we got to saving people."
That pattern repeated itself again and again throughout the day. Villagers who could have stopped once their own homes were safe instead turned their boats back toward the floodwaters, risking their lives.
Rajkumar Rajbir was among those who kept making trips well past midnight.
"We did all we could till 1 AM without food and water. People gave us some water while we were making our trips. We left again in the morning and got more people," he said.
Mohan Choudhury described the risk the group had accepted without hesitation.
"We thought our lives may go, but saving people was more important," he said.
Mithu Choudhury explained how fast the situation changed on July 19.
"It was 19 July. At 4 AM the water started rising, but at 12 PM the water entered our house. I got my family and people from the village out first. Then calls started coming that people were stuck and to save them," he said.
More than 1.92 lakh people have been affected across five districts, according to a July 31 report of the Disaster Reporting and Information Management System.
According to the reports of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on August 1, 82 people have lost their lives in floods in the state so far.
Many have come forward to support the people of the state during this ordeal. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has lauded the efforts of Reliance Foundation in providing support to people of flood-affected areas of the state and said it has contributed Rs 21 crore to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.