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Cars are seen submerged in flood water after heavy rains, in Agartala, Tripura on Sunday. (PTI)[/caption]
Agartala/Aizawl, July 14 (IANS): Over 15,000 people have shifted to relief camps and other safer places in Tripura and Mizoram due to flooding of low lying areas and villages by rain, officials said on Sunday.
Train service between Tripura, Mizoram and the rest of the country have been affected due to rain and landslides.
Bodies of three people, drowned in swollen rivers, were retrieved by rescuers.
According to officials, over 12,000 people have taken shelter in 38 relief camps on the outskirts Agartala, and Jirania, Kalyanpur and Teliamura in western Tripura.
"The government has deployed the Tripura State Rifles and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel and civil defence volunteers to rescue the marooned people," Sadar Sub-Divisional Officer Ashim Saha told IANS.
"Water in several rivers, including Howrah, has crossed the danger level. We have taken precautionary measures to deal with any eventuality," he said.
Agartala and its outskirts have been badly affected due to the continuous rain since Saturday. "Around 200 mm rainfall was recorded in Agartala since Saturday against the normal 11.4 mm," an official of the Tripura State Disaster Centre said.
The body of a youth was recovered on Sunday from Muhuri river in southern Tripura. He apparently drowned while collecting woods from the flooded river on Saturday.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has asked Chief Secretary Usurupati Venkateswarlu and other officials to remain alert to deal with the situation.
In Mizoram, over 3,000 people have taken shelter in safer places in the Lunglei district as Khawthlangtuipui river and its tributaries submerged nearly 400 houses.
The bodies of two youth, who drowned in Tlawng river, were recovered by the State Disaster Response Force personnel.
Assam flood death toll rises to 11
The flood situation in Assam worsened on Sunday with the death toll rising to 11 and affecting nearly 26.5 lakh people across 28 districts.
An Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) report said four fresh deaths were reported from Jorhat, Barpeta and Dhubri districts.
Of the 28 affected districts, Barpeta is the worst hit with 7.35 lakh people affected, followed by Morigaon where 3.50 lakh people are hit. They are followed by Dhubri where the number of affected is 3.38 lakh, the ASDMA said.
Till Saturday, around 14.06 lakh people were affected in 25 districts out of the total 33 districts.
"As per the Met department forecast, there will be more rainfall across Assam and the water level in the Brahmaputra is likely to rise," Kumar Sanjay Krishna, additional chief secretary (revenue and disaster management), said at a press conference on Sunday. "Dhubri and other lower Assam districts will probably see more severe flood in coming days."
Krishna said the state government was fully capable of handling the situation. "Last year, we had received INR 590 crore from the Centre. We have sufficient funds in our hands and already released INR 55.85 crore to the districts," he said.
Meanwhile, the NDRF and SDRF have rescued 7,833 people in the past 24 hours across the state. As many as 10,840 litres of mustard oil, 7,922 quintals of rice, tarpaulin sheets, water pouches, biscuits, milk powder, dal, salt and other essential items have been distributed among the flood-affected people.
About 70 per cent of the Kaziranga National Park, the habitat of the Great Indian Rhino and a world heritage site, has been affected too, the official said. "Many animals have moved to highlands. We have a sufficient stock of fodder and forest officials are on alert."
The Brahmaputra is flowing above its danger mark in Guwahati, at Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns, and at Badarpurghat in Karimganj.
Burhidehing river is flowing above its danger mark at Khowang in Dibrugarh, Subansiri at Badatighat in Lakhimpur, Dhansiri river at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur, Kopili at Kampur and Dharamtul in Nagaon, Puthimari at NH road crossing in Kamrup, Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta, Katakhal river at Matizuri in Hailakandi and Kushiyara river at Karimganj town, the ASDMA said.
It said 3,181 villages were under water and 87,607 hectares of crop areas had been damaged. Authorities are running 327 relief camps and distribution centres in 24 districts, where 16,596 people are taking shelter at present.
Embankments, roads, bridges, culverts and infrastructure have been damaged at various places in Sonitpur, Golaghat, Jorhat, Baksa, Dibrugarh, Nalbari, Hojai, Morigaon, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Nagaon, Kamrup, Barpeta, Dhubri, Majuli, Karimganj, Sivasagar, Hailakandi and South Salmara.
Massive erosions have been witnessed at several places of Udalguri, Barpeta and Sonitpur districts, the ASDMA said.
"For repairing embankments, 168 proposals worth INR 250 crore were approved after last year's flood," Krishna said.