September 17, 2020: Tea leaves sellers in Guwahati said that they are facing economic hardships as the sales have decreased due to the rise in prices owing to production shortfall amid COVID-19 pandemic and floods in the state.

"The rate of tea have become abnormal. Customers are not coming here. We are facing problems. The shortfall in tea production due to lockdown and floods has triggered the price rise. There is no tea variety available below Rs 250/kg in the market," Dheeraj, a trader told ANI.

Another trader Prakash Sharma said, "Price has increased unexpectedly. Productions have been down due to flood and COVID-19 pandemic. The government should do something to help us."

Over 56.9 lakh people were affected in 30 districts of Assam due to floods in the state, as per the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) report on August 21.

According to the state health department, there are a total of 1,48,968 COVID-19 cases in Assam including 1,16,900 recovered and 511 deaths. There are 31,555 active COVID-19 cases in the state.