Over half a million affected by flood fury in Northeast
CALAMITY Road, rail communication cut off, thousands take shelter in relief camps
GUWAHATI/IMPHAL/AGARTALA: Heavy rainfall continued to affect normal life across several states in northeast for the fourth consecutive day on Friday.
Over half a million people have been affected by the first spate of floods this season in Assam, Manipur, and Tripura. Rainfall has affected road and rail communication and thousands are taking shelter in relief camps.
In Assam, the total number of affected villages in seven districts — Hojai, Karbi Anglong East, Karbi Anglong West, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Karimganj, Cachar — increased from 370 on Thursday to 668 on Friday.
There was no report on loss of human life in the past 24 hours. Flood waters have affected over 3.86 lakh people in the state and over 67,000 displaced people are taking shelter in 178 relief camps.
Nearly 1,500 houses have been partially or completely damaged and a total crop area of 1,912 hectares affected. Nearly 500 stranded villagers have been evacuated by rescue teams.
The Dhansiri, Jia Bharali, Kopili, Barak, Katakhat and Kushiyara rivers flowed over the danger mark at seven places.
Northeast Frontier Railway said 13 trains in the region have been cancelled, partially cancelled, or short terminated due to flood waters and landslides affecting rail tracks.
In Manipur, the situation continued to remain grim as flood waters submerged a large area of habitations in five districts in Imphal Valley. One more floodrelated death was reported in the state on Friday, taking the total to six. Relief and rescue operations were on. Disaster response force and other security personnel tried to repair the breached Imphal river banks at ChajingKaram and Mayang Imphal areas, both in Imphal West.
Six of the total 16 districts in the state continued to remain affected by floods. Over 1.5 lakh people in 150 villages have been affected and 15,100 displaced residents are taking shelter in 101 relief camps. In Tripura 8,890 families comprising 38,116 people are still sheltered at 173 camps, a report of the State Emergency Control Centre said on Friday.