Assam Rifles launches relief and rescue operation amid incessant rain in Tripura

Agartala (Tripura) [India], August 22 : Amid incessant rains inundating large areas of Tripura, Assam Rifles has launched relief and rescue operations in East Kanchanbari of Kumarghat district and Karbook and Amarpur of Gomati district, Tripura.

Two columns for flood relief were immediately launched by Assam Rifles on August 20, following the requisition from civil administration in view of incidents of landslides and rising water levels.
Assam Rifles launched the rescue operations as hundreds of homes washed away in the state periphery due to a surge of flash floods following 72 hours of incessant rains.
While Haora, Karki, Dhalai, Manu, Muhuri and Gomti rivers swelled dangerously, the rains lashed out at the upper catchment areas as well. These six rivers are flowing above the danger mark.
As many as 5607 families have been shifted to 183 relief camps in the wake of the deteriorating situation due to the rise in the water levels of rivers.
Assam Rifles following its tradition of being the first responder is working in close coordination with civil administration to reduce the plight of stranded citizens alongwith providing relief to them.
Meanwhile, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday said that the administration is giving top priority to rescue and relief operations and added that he is monitoring the situation, amid heavy rainfall across various districts in Tripura over the past three days.
He said, "I have information that there is a depression in the Bay of Bengal and due to this rain happening, there has been a lot of impact of the depression in almost every district, I was monitoring from Delhi".
"I talked to every concerned department and reviewed the flood situation. Heavy rain occurred in Tripura. I had never seen this kind of rain in Tripura before there were many instances of landslides. Many rivers have come above the danger level," the chief minister said.
"NDRF, SDRF, BSF, Police and volunteers are engaged in the rescue operation".
CM informed that there are 321 relief camps operating in the state currently.
He stated "I ordered to rescue people from low-lying areas through boats. As per the information I received there are 321 relief camps and around 30,000 people are staying in those camps. we are ensuring the food, health and hygiene of the people stranded in the camps. 1 NDRF team from Assam has already arrived and 4 teams from Arunachal Pradesh are to arrive soon".
CM Manik Saha said that this kind of situation was unprecedented and this much rainfall never happened in the past. He said that in the South district, the amount of rainfall recorded was 375 mm.
CM Saha said, "Spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and briefed him on the current situation arising out of severe flood situation. I also requested to dispatch additional NDRF teams to support our response efforts. The Home Minister assured me of all possible support during this crisis. I am grateful to him for providing all possible support to us at this hour."
Meanwhile, heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected to continue over Tripura for the next two days, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).