Disastrous Rain: 5 Killed in Arunachal Landslide, 2 Drown In Assam Flood
May 17: The incessant and catastrophic rains since Friday have ravaged parts of Assam triggering floods and landslides in 20 out of the state’s 35 districts.
According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) statement on Monday, 2 drowned to death in Cachar district and Five people in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh were killed in a landslide.
In Assam, 1,97,248 people across 652 villages in 20 districts (Bajali, Baksa, Biswanath, Cachar, Charaideo, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Dima Hasao, Hojai, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong West, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur, Tamulpur, Udalguri) have been affected by floods and landslides.
Dima Hasao, in particular, has been ravaged by flash floods and landslides at several places. On Monday, connectivity to district headquarters Haflong was snapped as a major road sink along the Guwahati-Haflong link.
On Monday, Jogen Mohan, the state’s Revenue & Disaster Management minister visited Dima Hasao to take stock of the situation. Earlier, a family of three were buried alive after an RCC building lapsed in a landslide in Haflong.
On Monday morning, several coaches of the Guwahati-Silchar Express — which had been stationed at the New Haflong station — derailed, owing to the water-logging and landslides, said an official from the Northeast Frontier Railways. Apart from that, huge damages to railway tracks and bridges along the Lumding-Badarpur hill section of the Lumding division have been damaged.
The district administration official said that repair work had begun, but the continuous rains had stalled progress. The official added that frequent power cuts and lack of network connectivity had thrown life out of gear in the district. The district administration has issued an alert and requested the public to restrict the movement, unless absolutely necessary.
The Brahmaputra and Kopili rivers are flowing above danger levels.
Meanwhile, five people, including a woman, died in landslides triggered by rains in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday.
Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu took to Twitter to express condolences and said that ex gratia was being worked out.
