Tripura CM Manik Saha assesses flood-affected areas, sets up relief camps
Aug 21, 2024
Agartala (Tripura) [India], August 21 : Following heavy and unprecedented rainfall in Tripura for the past two days, which has created a severe flood and displaced as many as 30,000 people in the affected areas, the state government has set up 321 relief camps to tackle this situation in the state.
Tripura has been experiencing extremely heavy rainfall for the past couple of days, mainly in the southern districts, with rainfall recorded at 375 mm and 350 mm in other areas.
Schools, colleges and even universities had been closed amid the increasable rainfall and as many as seven people have lost their lives due to landslides that occurred in a few places.
Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said, "This kind of torrential rain is because of a sudden depression that happened in the Bay of Bengal and because of this, the South and almost every district got affected. I monitored the situation and was in contact with the officials on how to control the situation. I had a review meeting on the situation and I found out that in the south there was 375 mm of rain... I have never witnessed such heavy rain in Tripura. Because of this, there were many landslides and the river had also gone above the danger level."
He further stated that a relief team has been deployed from their side and more help is on the way from other states to tackle the situation.
"From our side, NDRF, SDRF, BSF, police, volunteers, DMs, SDMs and BDOs, everyone is involved in the operations... We have set up 321 relief camps and more than 30,000 people are there. Everything is taken care of, such as their food, water and hygiene... I also talked with the Union Home Minister about sending more NDRF teams... As per my knowledge, one team from Assam has landed here and four NDRF teams are also on the way from Arunachal Pradesh. With their help, we can control the situation and save many lives."
"According to the news, it is expected that rain might continue for 25-26 and it would be very difficult for us. So let the rain settle first, then only we can estimate the damages, especially in agricultural and horticulture sectors... But I never imagined such a kind of condition to happen in Tripura," he added.
Earlier, Saha visited those relief camps at Ramthakur Higher Secondary Girls School and Swami Vivekananda School in Ward No. 33 of Town Baradowali Centre and enquired about the management there as well as handed over the relief materials in the camp.
He also assessed the flood situation at Agartala through the Integrated Command & Control Centre at IT Bhavan to prioritise relief efforts by the administration.