Landslides kill 4 in Tripura, Arunachal

Itanagar/Agartala: Heavy rains have triggered landslides in Arunachal and Tripura, killing four persons. While one person was killed at Mebo in East Siang district of Arunachal on Tuesday, a tribal woman and two of her children died at Sabroom in South Tripura on Thursday.
The Tripura victims, a 32-year-old tribal woman and her two minor children, were sleeping when their house was buried in a landslide following heavy rains in South Tripura.Police said the incident occurred in a remote hamlet called Shankartilla, under Manubazar police station in South Tripura’s Sabroom. Police said the family of five had been residing in a hillock, about 8km from Manu. Due to the incessant rains, a mud block fell on the house when they were sleeping.
While the victim’s husband escaped, along with his elder son, his wife perished with their six-month-old son and four-year-old daughter. A police rescue team reached the spot, but were delayed as the parts of the road were blocked. Police said three other people of the locality have been injured.
Meanwhile, incessant rains across the state since Wednesday night have thrown life out of gear. Many major streets in Agartala have gone under water and a number of roads, lanes and houses are waterlogged. Most public offices, schools, colleges and markets around Agartala saw thin attendance on Thursday. Weather forecasts indicate heavy showers till August 18 due to a cyclonic cloud over West Bengal and Bihar, along the Himalayan region.
Incessant rains over the last couple of days have also wreaked havoc in several Arunachal districts. Landslides have killed a JCB helper at Mebo in East Siang district on Tuesday. The victim died while clearing a blockade between Mebo and Silluk village, about 8km from Mebo, a press release by Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) said. The vehicle skidded and, while the driver escaped, helper Debnath died on spot, sources added.
Continuous rain has disrupted communication in Mebo subdivision, forcing farming communities to abandon acres of land, an official report said here on Thursday. A wooden bridge over Kadang river has been washed away and communication along NH-52, between Mebo and Silluk, has been disrupted.
Monggu Banggo, Silluk, Aohali, all villages under Mebo Banggo, have been completely cut off. Mebo Banggo zila parishad member Oling Perme said a proposed bridge over Kadang Korong river has been delayed by over a decade. He accused BRTF of failing to maintain the Siku bridge and its embankment.
An official report from Tezu, the headquarters of Lohit district, said Tezu Nallah, Denning Nallah, Sukha Nallah, Dhuranallah, Taprum Nallah, Drem Nallah and Dhurah River are flowing above the danger mark, threatening human habitation and several hectares of standing crops.
The road to Changliang village has been inundated by the waters of the Dhuranallah which is flowing in spate, the report said. Residents have been evacuated from half-submerged houses and shifted to safer places, the report said, adding that no causalities have been reported so far.
Approximately 2 hectares of standing paddy, ginger and maize crops have been submerged.
“An OB-type quarter near the airport was washed away on Wednesday by the waters of the Sukha Nallah. We are monitoring the situation and using JCBs and other machines to divert the overflowing streams,” said WRD executive engineer C J Mannou.
Surface communication to VKV and Dimbe, (headquarters of 48 BRO), have been disrupted as the waters of Taprum Nallah and mudslides have damaged several portions of the road. New Danglat, Danglat, Tafragam villages have been affected.
The water resources department has recorded 378mm rainfall at Tezu, 526.5 mm rainfall at Tafragam and 346.40 mm rain at Loiliang village. “The intensity of rains is different in different places. This caused the sudden floods,” said S K Srivastav, AE of the department. Local MLA Mohesh Chai, accompanied by DC Brij Mohan Mishra and other officials, conducted a spot assessment and supervised the worst-hit places on Wednesday.
At Namsai, the Noa-Dihing river is flowing above the danger mark. Floodwaters have entered villages like Dharampur Lekang Gohain and Dirak Miri, sources said.
Meanwhile, Tezu has been cut off from the rest of the state due to floods between Wakro to Parsuram Kund and landslides between Tezu to Wakro, sources added. The Dikrong river is flowing in spate, threatening residential areas and fields in the state capital, a separate report added.