Northeast reels under floods, thousands rendered homeless; IMD predicts more showers till June 15

Kochi on June 11, 2018 (Pic courtesy: PTI)

Guwahati/Imphal/Agartala/Aizawl: Incessant rain in the past 24 hours has wreaked havoc in parts of the Northeast, triggering flash floods and rendering thousands of people homeless in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.

In Assam, as many as 1,48,912 people have been affected in 222 villages under eight revenue circles in the districts of Biswanath, Karbi Anglong West and Karbi Anglong East, Golaghat, Karimganj and Hailakandi, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) report issued on Wednesday. Karimganj in the Barak Valley remained the worst-hit with the breaching of the Longai river at Nayadhar area. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has so far evacuated 124 people in the district.

The authorites have opened 71 relief camps with Karimganj having the highest of 54, followed by Hailakandi 16 and Golaghat one. In total, 10,710 people have taken shelter in relief camps with Karimganj having the highest at 10,100. The flood situation in the other districts of the state is also being closely monitored, the officials said, PTI reported.

In Tripura, over 3,500 families have been rendered homeless. Though rain stopped this morning, over 500 families have been evacuated to six relief camps in West Tripura's sadar sub-division as their homes were submerged. The water level in Howrah river, which passes through Agartala, was flowing slightly below the danger level at 12 pm, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Sadar Tapan Kumar Das said.

According to the latest report of the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), over 3,500 families are lodged in 89 relief camps as heavy downpour inundated their houses in some sub-divisions.

In Mizoram, hundreds of people were displaced due to the floods, mudslides and landslides even as waters receded, state disaster management and rehabilitation department officials said. The situation improved after the rain stopped from Tuesday midnight. Thousands of people were evacuated to safer places as many houses were submerged as the river Khawthlangtuipui in south Mizoram's Lunglei district and Tlawng river in Aizawl district swelled due to extremely heavy monsoon downpours since Sunday night.

While no loss of lives was reported, over 10 people were injured in the mudslides and landslides which also destroyed over 30 houses across the state. Many places, including Lunglei district, remained cut off from the rest of state due to the landslides which was triggered by heavy rain.

In Manipur, several low-lying areas in Imphal east, Imphal west, Thoubal and Bishenpur districts have been inundated, officials said. The General Administration Department had declared a holiday on Wednesday for all government offices and educational institutions due to the inclement weather conditions. All schools in the Imphal Valley, barring Jiribam district, will remain closed on Thursday as well.

Though the rain stopped in the morning, the MeT department has predicted more showers till June 15. In Thoubal district, at least a hundred houses have been flooded by the overflowing Thoubal river, forcing residents to take shelter in relief camps.

On the other hand, incessant rains lashing several parts of Kerala claimed two more lives on Wednesday, taking the toll in rain related incidents to 23, since the o nset of the south west monsoon last month, officials said. Two men - a 82-year old and a 20-year old - drowned in flooded rivers in Pathanamthitta on Wednesday.

A total of 272 houses were partially damaged, while eight were fully damaged across Kerala in the rains,officials at the State Control room for Diaster management said. Land slips and damage to roads were reported from Idukki, Waynad, Kozhikode districts.

The Bharathapuzha, one of the major rivers in the state, was in spate, as also the Bhavni and Siruvani in Palakkad district. The Idukki and Mullaperiyar reservoirs received good inflows as the catchment areas have been receiving heavy rains for the past four days. The water level in Idukki dam touched 2,324.50 feet, nearly half its capacity, while that in Mullaperiyar stood at 117 feet.

IMD warning:

"Stagnation in further advance of southwest monsoon is likely for the coming one week due to the weakening of the monsoon circulation pattern. As a consequence, rainfall activity is very likely to reduce over interior parts of south peninsula, central and eastern parts of India. However, the enhanced rainfall activity over northeastern states is likely to continue during next 3 days," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday. "The ongoing heavy rainfall spell is very likely continue for next 2-3 days over parts of Northeastern states."

IMD warning for June 14:

- Heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places very likely over coastal and south interior Karnataka, Assam and Meghalaya.

- Heavy rain at isolated places over Kerala, sub ­Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.

- Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds and lightning very likely at isolated places over interior Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Rayalaseema, north coastal Andhra Pradesh, gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha.

- Squally winds speed reaching 35-­45 kmph gusting to 55 kmph very likely along and off Karnataka, ­Kerala coasts, Tamil Nadu coast, Lakshadweep coast, Odisha, ­West Bengal coasts and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

- Sea condition is likely to be rough to very rough over these areas. Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas.

(With PTI and imd.gov.in inputs)