Agartala, Aug 22, 2024, TRIPURA TIMES Desk

Key Highlights: 1) 65,000+ people rendered homeless, 17 lakhs affected, 2) Centre sends 2 helicopters, addl NDRF teams, 3) Govt declares closure of educational institutions, 4) 151 transformers, 844 electric poles damaged, 5) Landslides occurred at 2032 locations & 6) Road, train communication disrupted

The Tripura government has launched an intensive rescue and relief operation as the flood situation took a critical turn across the state on Thursday following another spell of showers on Wednesday night.

The Centre, as requested by the state government, sent two choppers and 120 additional NDRF personnel to enhance the rescue and relief efforts in Tripura.

More than 65,000 people were rendered homeless and 17 lakhs people were affected due to intense flood and shifted to around 450 temporary relief camps in the face of adversity, according to official sources.

Hours after Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and sought aid to tackle the grim situation, the Centre sent two chopper and NDRF.

On Thursday, three flights of Indian Airforce carrying 120 NDRF personnel landed at Maharaja Bir Bikram airport, Agartala. They were immediately pressed into action.

Two MI-17 helicopters also arrived in the state while one of the was sent to Amarpur in Gomati district for rescuing the people stranded in the flood-affected areas. Given the gravity of the situation, additional boats will be deployed to further bolster the rescue operations.

On behalf of the people of Tripura, the Chief Minister expressed gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the swift and decisive action, which he shared in a social media update. The Union Minister reassured Tripura of full support in managing the on-going calamity.

According to Dr. Saha, the entire State Government machinery has been working round the clock to tackle with the unprecedented natural calamity.

He appreciated the public representatives, social workers and other individuals for cooperating with the State Government at this hour of crisis.

The Chief Minister held an important meeting with the Chief Secretary J.K. Sinha and other officials and discussed the overall flood situation. He passed necessary instructions for rescue of people from flood affected areas and timely supply of relief items.

The state government announced closure of all educational institutions, including Government, Government-aided, and private (Schools, Colleges and State run universities) until further notice.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha walked through the flooded streets in Agartala city and witnessed the situation at ground zero. On his way, the Chief Minister also had interactions with the city dwellers.

The Howrah river in the city was flowing above the extreme danger mark, severely flooding its adjacent areas and forcing the people to evacuate their homes situated on the riverbed. Normal life was completely thrown out of gear throughout the day as almost all the major roads became water-logged.

Thousands of people had to be evacuated by the NDRF, others agencies and volunteers, locals, club members rescued the marooned people and took them to relief camps. At some points due to massive demands boats could not reach at time, but ultimately evacuated all the distressed people who contacted or seen to be in danger. As the day passed with fresh rainfall, the flood water started receding in several places across Agartala.

A government press release said, Tripura received one of the highest levels of rainfall in last 24 hours on 22.08.2024 notably in South Tripura District (Bogafa: 493.6 mm), Sepahijala District (Sonamura: 293.4 mm), West Tripura District (Agartala: 233 mm) and Gomati District (Udaipur: 155 mm). As a result, the whole State is affected with floods very badly. Particularly Gomati, South Tripura, Unakoti and West Tripura Districts have been severely affected.

The preliminary reports suggest extensive damages to physical infrastructure and agriculture crops along with damages to houses, livestock. The actual figures will be known only after the field assessment is completed.

The power infrastructure suffered massive damages. Total 844 electric poles had collapsed and 151 transformer, 310 km conductors, 2 sub-stations were damaged.

Landslides were reported from 2032 locations, out of which 1789 locations were already cleared and the restoration work was underway in full swing. Erosion of roads occurred at 1952 locations, out of which till date 579 locations were restored.

While the flood and its impact disrupted public transport in the city and other parts, all the trains operating from Agartala have been deferred.

There have been extensive crop damages specially early and late Kharif crops due to the flood in all eight districts. As per preliminary estimates, around 5000 ha Vegetables and 1.20 lakh ha paddy land area is still under submerged condition causing full and part damages to the crops.

The State Government has launched extensive rescue and relief operations. However, common people have been requested not to panic but remain calm and cooperate with the State and District Administrations.

Secretary to Revenue department Brijesh Pandey, Dr. Parth Roy of Met department, Urban Development secretary Abhishek Singh, Health Secretary Kiran Gitte, State Project Officer of Disaster Management Sharat Kumar Das in a press conference briefed the overall flood scenario on Thursday.