Four people drowned and another died in landslide on Saturday, taking the death toll in the first wave of flood and rainfall-induced landslides in Assam to eight since Wednesday.
At least 21 others have died in flash floods and landslides in Manipur and Tripura over more than a month.
Officials of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority said two people in Cachar district and one each in Hailakandi and Hojai districts lost their lives in the flood that has affected 4, 25,373 people across seven districts.
Almost half of the affected people are in Hailakandi, where many Muslims offered their Id prayers on rooftops. Of the district’s 331 villages, 231 are under flood waters, with rivers such as the Katakhal, the Dholeswari and the Barak flowing above the danger mark.
“We have opened 87 relief camps accommodating 54,364 flood-affected people and disaster response force personnel rescued 316 marooned people,” Hailakandi Deputy Commissioner Adil Khan said. The authorities in the other six districts have set up 104 relief camps where 45,646 people have moved in.
Officials in Dima Hasao district said rainfall triggered landslide at Mahur, Harangajao and Maibang killing one person and destroying 114 houses. Train services remain affected on the Lumding-Badarpur hill section.
Fresh landslides in Dharmanagar area of Tripura have also cut off Tripura from the rest of the country. The railway and highway to the landlocked State pass through this area.
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb visited the flood-affected Udaipur area and held meetings with officials for providing relief in flood-affected areas. Some 200 workers of the National Disaster Response Force had been flown in to the State two days ago for rescue operations in Unakoti, South Triprua and West Tripura districts, where more than one million people have been affected.
NH Cave-ins
Two national highways — 37 and 2 — which link Manipur to Assam and Myanmar respectively have caved in along the mountain areas, blocking heavy vehicle traffic for the past three days.
Meanwhile fresh areas at Mayang Imphal, Uchiwa and other villages have been inundated by the flood waters. However, the situation in and around Imphal has improved.
