Floods and landslides in the Northeast, death toll rises to 14 across 3 states
Landslides in Mizoram have destroyed some 450 houses while sections of many arterial roads have been washed away.
Large swathes of the seven contiguous Northeast states had a sunny break on Wednesday from the heavy, incessant rainfall. However, the death toll across the three states increased to 14.
Guwahati administrative officials said that the body of a man in his mid-20s was fished out of a city canal Tuesday night. The man is believed to have drowned when half the city was under knee or neck-deep water on Tuesday. A 13-year-old student and a carpenter were electrocuted by a submerged live wire.
A 35-year-old farmer was also swept away on Tuesday night by a turbulent Imphal River in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district while hundreds of localities in Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Senapati districts faced flash floods with at least six rivers in spate.
Manipur’s Thoubal rivers were flowing above the danger mark on Wednesday. The worst affected areas included Kaziranga in chief minister N Biren’s Heingang constituency, and Sagolband, Uripok, and Kalapahar in the hilly Kangpokpi district.
Rain and flash floods also destroyed standing crops in many places while some villages including Makuilongdi in Senapati district have been cut off after the roads were washed away.
Biren, accompanied by irrigation and flood control minister Letpao Haokip, visited the flood-hit Kairang areas on Wednesday to take stock of the situation. On Tuesday, social welfare and cooperation minister Nemcha Kipgen visited the Kalikhola area of Kangpokpi district where the earth has developed long cracks, as if devastated by an earthquake. Many people have relocated from the area in fear.
Assam State Disaster Management authorities, meanwhile, said that the Brahmaputra and it’s tributaries continue to flow above the danger mark though the intensity is lower than on Tuesday. So far, some 40,000 people across 39 villages in four districts have been affected by flood while there has been no casualty apart from the three deaths in Guwahati on Tuesday.
In Mizoram too, there were no reports of loss of life or property on Wednesday. Of the 10 people who were washed away by flash floods in Tlabung area of Lunglei district on Tuesday, the bodies of six are yet to be recovered. “Our disaster response teams, aided by local NGOs, are providing relief to the affected people,” health minister Lal Thanzara said.
Since Sunday, landslides in the state have destroyed some 450 houses while sections of many arterial roads have been washed away. These include a highway 20km south of Lunglei town.
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