PTI
SHILLONG, SEPTEMBER 24
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Meghalaya flood situation remained grim with 38 deaths reported while at least nine persons still remained untraced.
Inspector General of Police G H P Raju told PTI, “Thirty-eight persons have died due to flash floods and landslides in various parts of Meghalaya and nine persons are reported missing.”
Incessant rains triggered flash floods in the low lying areas of Garo Hills region and severe landslide in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region for the past three days.
Twenty-six persons have died and nine are missing in the three Garo Hills districts along while 12 have died in the Khasi Jaintia Hills region, the IGP said.
With certain parts still inaccessible for search and rescue operations the toll may go up, an official of the disaster management authority (DMA) said here.Over 40 relief camps have been set up in the three worst-affected districts in the Garo Hills region and more than 30,000 people had been shifted to these camps where food and essentials were made available by the district administration, the DMA official said.
The NDRF and the Army besides the BSF have also sent their teams aiding the district administration in search and rescue operations
The flash floods and landslide also affected several border outposts of the BSF along the Indo-Bangladesh border in the state, BSF spokesperson said.
Parts of the border roads were also damaged and communication networks snapped, he said.
Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has asked all line departments to send an official assessment about damages to life and property including agriculture and livestock immediately to the government.
Assam flood toll rises to 30
GOALPARA/RANGIA, SEPT 24
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he toll in Assam in the current flood rose to 30 today with 14 bodies recovered from worst-affected Goalpara and Kamrup(Rural) districts even as relief and rescue work continued round-the-clock.
Six bodies were recovered from Bolbola and Krishnai areas of Goalpara taking the total death toll so far to 14 in the district, where army, NDRF and SDRF are conducting rescue operation, a senior district administration official said.
Another eight bodies were recovered from neighbouring Kamrup(Rural) district, where the toll rose to 10. Four others are still missing, Deputy Commissioner J Balaji said.
Goalpara district administration sources said 94 relief camps have been set up by the district administration and more than 90,000 people have taken shelter in them.Assam Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka and Forest Minister Rakibul Hussain have been deputed by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to review the prevailing situation in the district and coordinate the relief and rescue operations, an official spokesman said.
The ministers have announced that the state government would provide ex-gratia payment of Rs 3.5 lakh to the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the current floods.
In Kamrup(Rural) rescue operations were on and the situation was improving gradually with no rains since yesterday
Balaji said road communication between Nagarberra and Hekra was affected as a concrete bridge was washed away yesterday.
Traffic along NH 37 has resumed but they were moving very slowly as several parts of it are still submerged, he added.
Situation in Guwahati, which falls in Kamrup(Metro) district, was improving slowly though the severely affected areas of Anil Nagar, Nabin Nagar, Tarun Nagar, Rajgarh besides Zoo Road in the heart of the city are still under water, a spokesman of the district administration said.
Flood water from neighbouring Meghalaya inundated Betkuchi, Bashishta Chariali, Katahbari and Gorchuk localities of Guwahati along NH 37, the spokesman said.
All government and private educational institutions in and around the city remained closed for the third consecutive day today.
In Kamrup(Metro), five people have died so far while in Dhubri district a child was killed by landslide at Hatisinghmari on September 22.
A population of nearly four lakh have been affected in 12 districts by the current wave of flood which has inundated 415 villages and nearly 9,000 hectares of crop area, a Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) release said.
The affected districts are Goalpara, Kamrup Metro, Kamrup Rural, Dhemaji, Barpeta, Udalguri, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Nalbari, Morigaon, Sonitpur, Darrang and Lakhimpur.
