A member of Tripura State Rifles (TSR) carries a flood-affected woman to a safer place on the outskirts of Agartala. (Reuters)
Two people were killed and over 17,000 people were rendered homeless as a sudden rise in the water levels of Tripura due to heavy rains in neighboring Assam has caused floods in several districts of the state.
Around 17,952 people were sheltered in 61 relief camps since July 1, according to a report by the State Emergency Operations Centre’s (SEOC). The showers have intensified since last 3-4 days, submerging their houses.
Meteorological Department officials said that the water level in Haora river and few other rivers are flowing close to danger level. An embankment along Haora river was breached at Jirania in West Tripura district on Sunday evening. The breach was repaired on a war footing, local administration said.
The water levels, however, have come down since the showers relented since Monday afternoon. All necessary relief materials, including ration, milk and medicines were provided to the sheltered people, a Revenue Department official said.
The water levels, however, have come down since the showers took a halt since Monday afternoon. (PTI)
Sarat Das, State Disaster Management Nodal Officer, told indianexpress.com that rescue operations were underway and teams of Assam Rifles, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and district administrations were deployed to evacuate people stuck in waterlogged areas.
The Chief Minister’s office put out a statement which said that five districts were affected, of which West Tripura was worst hit, adding that the floods were triggered due to ‘unprecedented rainfall’ since July 12.
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An official from the local meteorological department told indianexpress.com that 186.9 mm rainfall was recorded since July 13. “The heavy downpour was triggered due to the formation of the monsoon trough line in the sub-Himalayan range, coupled with seasonal Westerlies. We are expecting the showers to continue at least for the next 48 hours”, the official said.
Teams of Assam Rifles, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and district administrations were deployed to evacuate people. (PTI)
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb expressed concern at the aggravated situation and asked all DMs and other officials to monitor station and extend emergency assistance to all affected people.
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In a similar situation last year, over 40,000 people were forced to take shelter in relief camps as the water level reached beyond safety limits in rivers and canals in the state. The state government later announced to construct a series of small dams on Baramura Range to control unchecked rainwater flow into rivers in the plains.