Torrential monsoon rain since last Sunday has submerged large parts of Tripura. More than 7,000 families have been affected and more than 2,000 families displaced, according to officials in the Tripura Disaster Management Authority. At least one person – a 75-year-old woman – has died, as per a Press Trust of India report. The woman reportedly got washed away after slipping into the overflowing Bijoy river at a village in Sipahijala district, about 20 km north of the state capital, Agartala.

Three districts have been primary affected: West Tripura, Khowai, and Unakoti, said Sankar Chakraborty, deputy secretary at the state’s revenue department to which Tripura Disaster Management Authority reports. “7000 families across 89 villages have been affected in these districts,” Chakraborty said. The rivers Howra and Khowai were flowing above the danger mark, he added.

As many as 598 relief camps were opened on Monday in the district and adjacent Sipahijala, Milin Ramteke, district magistrate of West Tripura, told PTI. Chakraborty insisted that the situation had improved by Thursday morning. “Most relief camps have been shut as the situation has become better,” he said.

In June, 695 mm rainfall was recorded in Agartala against the expected normal monsoon rainfall of 421 mm, reported the news agency IANS, quoting Meteorological Department Director Dilip Saha.

People using boats to navigate in a flooded suburb near Agartala
A scene from an affected village in Tripura
A school in Agartala
People carrying cows to safety in a flood-affected village
A person learning flow water in a suburb on the outskirts of Agartala

All pictures taken by Abhisek Saha