Flood, landslides kill three in Assam, Arunachal
GUWAHATI: Three people were killed in flood and landslides, triggered by incessant rains, in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday.
A minor was killed in a landslide while a woman drowned at a river in Arunachal. The landslide occurred at Doni Colony in state capital Itanagar. The woman, who hailed from neighbouring Naharlagun, drowned while crossing the river on Wednesday. The body was fished out on Thursday morning.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu said landslides and flood left trails of largescale devastation in the state. Assuring all possible support, he directed the authorities to continuously monitor the situation.
Khandu appealed to people living in lowland and landslide-prone areas to immediately shift to safer locations.
In Assam, one person died in the flood on Thursday which took the death toll in the deluge to 15. Twenty-one others were killed in landslides earlier.
Over 1.89 lakh people in 492 villages and localities of nine districts such as Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia have been affected by the flood caused by Brahmaputra, Disang, Dhansiri, and Jia Bharali rivers.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, cropland affected was in areas of 19,430 hectares. Altogether 11,468 affected people were lodged in 49 relief camps.
The floodwater inundated the Baghjan Oil Field in Tinsukia district where a massive fire broke out following blowout – or uncontrolled emission of natural gas – at an oil well.
Oil India Limited (OIL) said all roads connecting to the site of fire had been submerged as river Dangori was overflowing. Currently, there is only one connecting road that is narrow at places resulting in challenges in the movement of men and materials, the OIL said in a statement on Thursday.
A bridge between Doom Dooma and Baghjan, which was damaged due to heavy rainfall, was also hampering the movement of men and materials to Baghjan.