6 dead, over 3,000 families homeless
Six people died and thousands have been rendered homeless in flash floods in Tripura caused by incessant rain over the past 48 hours, state government officials said Monday.
State emergency operation centre officials also said three people have reported injuries sustained in the landslides following heavy downpour.
Over 13,775 people from 3,145 families have become homeless while about 1,375 houses have been damaged, the officials said. The government has set up 61 relief camps to provide shelter to the affected families, they added.
The floods mainly hit parts of Agartala and areas in the outskirts of West Tripura, Khowai, Gomati and Sepahijala districts.
Weather department officials warned of more rain in the coming days, adding that record premonsoon rainfall of 857.7 mm has been recorded since March 1.
According to weather experts, the northeastern state receives 2200 mm rainfall on an average every year. Tripura’s low-lying areas suffer the most from waterlogging and flash floods during the monsoon season. However, the pre-monsoon rainfall this year has been “unprecedented”.
Chief minister Biplab Deb visited the water-logged areas in his assembly constituency of Banamalipur and announced a compensation of ~5 lakh to the next of the kin of those deceased and another ~1 lakh to reconstruct the damaged houses. “The government will extend all possible assistance to the flood-victims at the earliest,” Deb said. He has proposed to the Centre for construction of two dams on Howrah river to check floods and store water during dry spells.
AGARTALA: