Guwahati, June 17 (Agency)
Flood situation remained grim on Friday due to four consecutive days of torrential rains in various parts of Northeast India, causing several major rivers to be in spate. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 11 lakh people have been affected in 25 districts of the state due to the rains and floods. The situation is no different in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, where landslides have damaged roads and inundated villages. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday said that Sohra (formerly Cherrapunji) in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills has recorded a rainfall of 972 mm in the last 24 hours from 8:30 am on Friday. Rainfall occurred, which is the highest since 1995 in the month of June. A boat carrying four people capsized in the Jia Bhoroli river in Assam’s Sonitpur district, leaving one person missing. A district official said three people were rescued, but the fourth person could not be traced. Fresh landslides have been reported in several areas of Guwahati and parts of Dima-Hasao, Goalpara, Hojai, Kamrup and Kamrup (M). The death toll in Assam this year due to floods and landslides rose to 46 on Thursday after two children died. Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal spoke to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier in the day to discuss the flood and landslide situation in the state.
Several rivers in Assam are flowing above the danger mark, including the Brahmaputra in Nimtighat and Dhubri, Kopili in Nagaon, Puthimari in Kamrup, Pagaladiya in Nalbari, Manas and Beki rivers in Barpeta. The current flood situation has affected 1,702 villages, forcing more than 68,000 people to take shelter in 150 relief camps. In neighboring Arunachal Pradesh, an under-construction dam site of a hydroelectric project submerged due to water from the Subansiri River. Several villages in two districts of Dhemaji and Lakhimpur have been submerged due to torrential rains in the border state. Meanwhile, Tripura lost contact with the rest of the country on Thursday following a landslide on National Highway-6 due to heavy rains. Several train services have also been affected in the last one month due to torrential rains in Tripura.
