Over 31 people have died in floods and landslides in Assam and Meghalaya in the last two days.
As per latest updates, over 19 lakh people in 28 Assam districts have been severely affected, while one lakh people are taking shelter in relief camps. Out of the total casualties in the floods in the last two days, 12 died in Assam and 19 in Meghalaya. The deaths were reported from Hojai, Nalbari, Bajali, Dhubri, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, and Sonitpur districts of Assam. Agartala, Tripura’s capital, has reported a massive flash flood as the city has received 145 mm rainfall in just six hours.
Apart from Tripura, Meghalaya’s Mawsynram and Cherrapunji have received record rainfall since 1940, according to officials. All educational institutions have been closed due to the flash flood in Agartala as the city recorded third-highest rainfall in the last 60 years. On the other hand, some 3,000 villages are flooded, and 43,000 hectares of cropland are underwater in Assam. Moreover, several embankments, culverts and roads have also been damaged.
Tripura: More than 2,000 people have been displaced due to flooding in Sadar subdivision of West Tripura district triggered by torrential rain. They have taken shelter in 20 relief camps. However, no fatality has been reported so far. West Tripura district has received 155 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, causing inundation of several low-lying areas on the banks of Howrah River.
Chief Minister Manik Saha visited the Integrated Command and Control Centre on Friday night and took stock of the situation. He asked officials to take all possible steps to handle the situation and assess the damage caused by the floods.
Assam: A total of 18.94 lakh people have been affected by the heavy rain and subsequent flood and landslides in 28 districts of the state, the bulletin issued by Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said.
Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh: The situation is no better in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, where roads have been damaged due to landslides and villages are largely flooded. Sohra (erstwhile Cherrapunji) in Meghalaya recorded a massive 972 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Friday, while Mawsynram received 1003.6 mm showers during the same period, IMD officials said.