25 dead in floods, landslides across Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya

Dykes breached, bridges washed away due to floods

Floods and landslides have claimed 25 lives across three north-eastern States so far, with Assam being the worst hit.

According to data provided by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) late on Friday, four people, including two children, drowned. The toll due to the disaster has now gone up to nine. Five others had died in a series of landslides since May 14.

On Friday, the body of a woman was retrieved from a landslide zone in Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar. She was the eighth victim of several cases of landslips reported across the town, prompting Chief Minister Pema Khandu to ask people to shift from the vulnerable areas.

Three others had died due to flash floods and landslips in Meghalaya earlier.

“About 7.12 lakh people have been affected across 29 flood-affected districts, with central Assam’s Nagaon being the worst hit. So far, 74,705 people have been shifted to 234 relief camps,” an ASDMA spokesperson said.

A report received by ASDMA from the Water Resources Department’s Dibrugarh-based assistant executive engineer said “rain cuts and a major slump down” have been observed at a dyke downstream of the Bogibeel rail-road bridge across the Brahmaputra River.

A stretch of more than 2 km near the bridge was affected due to “incessant rainfall and movement of cattle and heavy vehicles”, the report said.