Northeast floods and landslides claim six more lives, toll reaches 45

GUWAHATI: Floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Remal-induced incessant rain, besides the onset of monsoon, has claimed six more lives across NE, increasing the fatality count to 45 on Thursday.
Four persons were feared dead due to a landslide in Nongpriang village of Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district early on Thursday. So far, the body of only one victim has been retrieved.“It was raining very heavily and portions of two houses got washed away,” an official said.
The body of Phisar Nongrum (75) has been retrieved from the debris while Kynmaw Syngai (70), Benti Riahtam (60) and a minor boy, Lumlang Riahtam (16), were still trapped till the time of filing this report. Lumlang Riahtam, Syngai and Benti belonged to the same family, the official added.
On the other hand, an official report said due to heavy flow of water from hilltop on to NH-6, Lumshnong in East Jaintia Hills district, the highway has become “extremely vulnerable” and a restriction on vehicular movement through this particular stretch has been imposed.
1.98 lakh hit in Assam, water enters Manipur CM's home
In the meanwhile, incessant rain triggered by Cyclone Remal subsided on Thursday in the state capital and other areas and normal activities slowly resumed. As on date, over 5,000 people have been affected in the state. Revenue and disaster management minister Kyrmen Shylla told reporters that Rs 19.85 crore has been released to 12 districts for providing immediate relief to the victims. Chief minister Conrad K Sangma said power supply, which has been interrupted due to heavy rainfall and strong winds, would be restored soon.
On the other hand, one more body was recovered by search and rescue workers at Hlimen locality of Aizawl on Thursday. According to revised figures stated by the authorities, the bodies of 28 people of the total 34 people confirmed dead in landslides have been recovered so far. Aizawl Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) officials told TOI that the body of Santosh Manjhi (38), a resident of Jamogori Uppersitwa in Dumka district of Jharkhand, was recovered on Thursday.
Meanwhile, floods in Assam have claimed one more human life, raising the total number of deaths in deluge to three so far. The fatality occurred in Hailakandi district. The two deaths reported on Wednesday were from Cachar district. As on Thursday, over 1.98 lakh people across nine districts were hit. Till Wednesday, only over 40,000 people were affected by the floods.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 35,000 flood-affected people have taken shelter in 110 relief camps that have been opened in Cachar, Dima-Hasao, Hailakandi, Hojai, West Karbi Anglong, Karimganj and Nagaon districts in the state. As many as nine districts - Hailakandi, Hojai, Golaghat, Nagaon, Karimganj, Cachar, Karbi Anglong West, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao - have been affected as of Thursday.
On the other hand, the Central Water Commission in its daily bulletin stated that the Kopili river is flowing above the danger mark in Assam's Nagaon district and the Bramaputra in Dibrugarh and Jorhat districts.
Water resources minister Pijush Hazarika on Thursday said there is no reason to worry regarding floods in Silchar and that the district administration is fully prepared to tackle the situation. The flood situation in Silchar and Barak Valley has worsened with fresh areas getting inundated over the past 24 hours.
In flood-hit Manipur, forces have rescued several hundreds of people. Fishermen, too, are rescuing stranded people by joining hands with Loktak Development Authority. The Assam Rifles rescued over 4,000 people in Manpur and Mizoram. "#IndianArmy & #AssamRifles also established medical camps, distributed food and water to the stranded individuals, apart from clearing landslides, carrying out repairs on embankments which have been breached and restoring connectivity to cutoff areas," Spear Corps posted on X.
Residence of Manipur CM N Biren Singh got partially submerged, while knee-deep water was seen in Governor's House in Imphal. Patients of a private hospital were also rescued by locals and police. Khuman Lampak Stadium, several important offices and the state museum in Imphal also remained under water.
The CM chaired a meeting with ministers, MLAs, and officials to review the flood situation in the state.