GUWAHATI: With flood and landslides snapping rail and road communications in Assam’s hill district of Dima Hasao, the state government took the help of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to rescue the affected and dispatch essential items. The Army also joined the operation, rescuing around 900 marooned people in Hojai district. The situation statewide remained grim amid incessant rains for the past week. Rivers such as Brahmaputra, Kopili, Disang, Kushiyara and Barak were in a spate, flowing above danger levels.
Over 7.17 lakh people in 29 of the state’s 34 districts have been affected. Nine persons have lost their lives so far – four in flood and five in landslides. Five others are reported missing.GD Tripathi, chief executive member of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, told this newspaper the IAF dispatched 12 metric tonnes of foodgrains to Dima Hasao on Thursday. The first consignment on Wednesday was of four metric tonnes.
“Supplies have started going to (district headquarters) Haflong after the National Highways Authority of India opened the road yesterday,” Tripathi said. “Whatever disruptions happened as regards the NH and the railway in Dima Hasao, we are putting all-out efforts to restore them,” he added.Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said it would take 45 days to restore train services in Dima Hasao. Trains pass through this district to run further to southern Assam’s Barak Valley and Tripura.
Meanwhile, Guwahati-based Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) warned of widespread rainfall in the next two days. “Moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal is likely to continue over to Northeast India due to low-level southerly/south-westerly winds during 19-21 May 2022. Under the influence of the above system, widespread rainfall accompanied with thunderstorms/lightning and heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places are very likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura,” the RMC said in a statement.