At least 12 feared dead as rain wreaks havoc across the North East
Continuous downpour and landslides have cut off Aizawl and severed power supply and phone connections in the capital city.
About a dozen people have been feared killed since Tuesday evening as incessant rain continues to lash the North East. Officials estimated that 10 people died after a three-storey building collapsed after a landslide in the Lunglei district of Mizoram, and two others were killed by electrocution in Guwahati.
“So far, three bodies have been recovered while seven are still trapped in the rubble [of the collapsed building],” an official of the department of disaster management and rehabilitation told The Telegraph.
The rain, which started on Sunday, triggered floods and landslides, and uprooted trees. “Nearly 450 houses have been submerged or damaged by the floods and landslides,” State health minister Lal Thanzara told The New Indian Express. “Besides Lunglei, Aizawl and Serchip districts have been severely affected. In Aizawl, about 50 families who have been hit by the landslides have been evacuated.”
The continuous downpour and landslides have cut off the capital of Aizawl and severed the power supply and phone connections in the city. “A major landslide occurred near Vaivakawn, blocking National Highway 54 that connects Aizawl to Lengpui airport,” the official told The Telegraph.
Seventy-four buildings, including the indoor stadium and the Integrated Child Development Services centre, were also inundated in Tlabung town. In the Tlabung subdivision, more than 1,500 families are reported to have been affected by the floods.
The authority have issued flood warning in Lakhimpur and Sonitpur districts in Assam. The water levels of the Singra and the Simen, the two tributaries of the Brahmaputra in upper Assam, are rising alarmingly. Manipur and Meghalaya, too, witnessed floods and landslides, reported Hindustan Times. Several houses have been inundated and roads having been damaged. The authorities have set up relief camps in Manipur’s Imphal Valley.
However, the Regional Meteorological Centre has said that the intensity of the rain will start declining from Wednesday. “But, we are expecting rain throughout this week,” Sanjay O’Neil Shaw, director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, told The Telegraph.