Northeastern states hit by rain; 21,000 people affected in first wave of Assam floods

GUWAHATI: The first wave of floods hit Assam on Wednesday affecting nearly 21,000 people in Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts in upper Assam, even as incessant rain caused massive landslides and breach of river embankment in various places in the state and neighbouring Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh in the past 24 hours.
The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), in its evening bulletin on Wednesday, said 20,768 people were affected by floods in Nowboicha in Lakhimpur district, where in nearby Dhemaji district, 157 people have been affected.
A total of 19 villages in Dhemaji and Lakhimpur have been inundated and crops in 13.5 hectares of land have been inundated, the bulletin said.
Dispur revenue circle in Kamrup (Metro) and Silchar revenue circle in Cachar district remain affected by urban floods, the ASDMA said.
In Nowboicha, a breach occurred at Singra river embankment that left people in Chamua Gaon marooned by flood water due to sudden slump down, heavy thrust and bank migration, the report stated. The Singra riverside bund was also breached at Fulbari Basti adding to people's miseries.
Sources said the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has been pressed into rescue operation.
Landslides brought vehicular movement to a halt on National Highway-6 connecting Silchar and Guwahati in Meghalaya. Besides, landslides were reported in at least a couple of locations in South West Khasi Hills where a school building was also damaged. At Haflong in Assam's Dima Hasao district, roads were under water and landslides hit the hilly district. Schools in Dima Hasao have been closed for five days from June 13 following heavy rain forecast.
In Arunachal Pradesh, landslides have been reported from at least 10 locations along Balipara-Chariduar-Tawang national highway that connects northern Assam with Arunachal Pradesh. In the country's biggest under-construction hydro project, the 2,000-MW Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Power Project site in Arunachal, a temporary dyke was washed away by rainwater. The NHPC authorities, however, said the dyke was of no use.
On Tuesday night, two persons died after lightning struck them in a tea garden in Biswanath sub-division of north Assam's Sonitpur district.
Heavy rainfall has been recorded in several locations across Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh since Tuesday morning. Mawsynram and Cherrapunji, two wettest places on earth located in Meghalaya, received extremely heavy rainfall of 31 cm and 24 cm respectively in the last 24 hours.