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The number of people killed due to flash floods in Arunachal Pradesh reached four on Saturday, 15 September, after another body was recovered from Assam. Two others are still missing, an official told PTI.
“The body of one person was recovered on Saturday from Dikrong river near Harmutty in Assam’s Lakhimpur district,” Capital Deputy Commissioner Prince Dhawan told the news agency.
The flash flood has also claimed three other lives, while two persons have been missing.
Dhawan added that five teams of NDRF and four from SDRF were undertaking search and rescue operation since morning to trace the two missing persons.
The northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Assam have been reeling under floods since the past couple of days, leading to several deaths and large-scale devastation.
Meanwhile, the Lakhimpur District Administration also put out a high alert after North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (NEEPCO) released water from the Ranganadi dam project at Yazali in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday, 13 September, reported Northeast Now.
Assam
On 13 September, twenty-two-year-old Bijoy Tanti, from Kamalpur village under Gogamukh revenue district in Assam's Dhemaji, had lost his life in the floods.
Over 22,000 people have been affected from 118 villages in Dhemaji district alone, The Indian Express said quoting a report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority.
“Not all people have been displaced but around 800 people are staying in the three relief camps we have set up,” an official from Dhemaji district’s Assam State Disaster Management Authority told The Indian Express.
The main areas to be affected by the floods are Gogamukh, Jonai and Dhemaji, the report added quoting the official.
Arunachal Pradesh
Incessant rain for the last couple of days have caused landslides and led to many houses being swept away or inundated in Arunachal Pradesh.
Two people, including a minor, had lost their lives on 14 September in a landslide in the Modirijo and Donyi-polo area near the capital city of Itanagar, reported NorthEast Today.
Twenty-six houses have been washed away while over 60 were fully or partially damaged at affected sites such as Modirijo, the Donyi Polo area, Chandra Nagar, Lobi, GSS Police colony, Press colony, Dhawan told PTI on Saturday. A few cars and bikes have also been reportedly swept away in the flood river.
According to PTI, the approach road to Modirijo has been washed away while half of the culvert has been damaged in Donyi polo area.
Dhawan added that many schools in the capital complex have been designated as temporary relief shelters.
Roads and water supply connections have also been affected in the area. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has also asked his officers to ensure preparedness to tackle the disaster.
Conveying his heartfelt condolences to the family members of the deceased, CM Khandu directed the district administration to continuously monitor the situation and also ordered the chief secretary to personally shift the residents from vulnerable area.
Sikkim
Continuous downpour on Friday triggered fresh landslides in north Sikkim, already battered by rains and widespread landslips since Sunday.
There was no information on loss of human lives due to the landslides, a district official said on Saturday.
The fresh landslides were reported at Passingdong village in Dzongu.
Part of NH10 – one of the roads that connects Sikkim to the rest of the country has been cut off after heavy rains and landslides in the area.
The landslides have occurred at Dzongu, Mangan, Lachen and Mangshilla in North District, the official said.
Mangan, the district headquarter town of North District, has been cut off from Gangtok due to a landslide at Ambithang. The road link between Mangan and Chungthang has also been snapped after a bridge was washed off at Rafong Khola.
The Ambithang jhora is also flowing in full spate damaging culverts and the newly constructed Bailey Bridge near Toong.
The road network in Dzongu has been affected at multiple places with reports of landslides. The entire area of upper Dzongu has been cut off due to landslides near Mantam lake.
The rains and widespread landslides have affected about 50 houses in the district.
Many houses near Rafong Jhora have become unsuitable for human habitation and residents of those houses have been directed to shift to safer location.
District Collector Karma R Bonpo, along with the sub-divisional magistrates of Mangan and Dzongu subdivisions, senior police and transport officials made a survey of the affected areas in Mangan, Mangshilla, Dzongu on Friday to assess the situation.
Relief and ex-gratia as per norms will be released to the affected people, the official said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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