20 relief camps are filled with more than 2000 people who have been displaced due to flooding in the Sadar Subdivision of West Tripura districts triggered by torrential rain. However, no fatality has been reported so far, said officials on Saturday, 18 June.
In the last 24 hours, the West Tripura district has received 155 mm of rainfall causing floods in several low-lying areas on the banks of Agartala. The Sadar Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Ashim Saha said that the Howrah River has crossed the danger level causing threat to southern parts of Agartala.
“Water level in Howrah River is flowing slightly above the danger level, posing threat to several low-lying areas in southern parts of Agartala. The situation may worsen if it rains more,” said Ashim Saha.
Chief Minister Manik Saha visited the Integrated Command and Control Centre on Friday night and took stock of the situation. He asked officials to take all possible steps to handle the situation and assess the damage caused by the floods.
Police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and the administration are jointly conducting relief and rescue operations in the affected areas. Because of the situation, the state government has already declared that schools and colleges will remain shut on Saturday.
State Disaster Management Authority Project Officer Sarath Kumar Das said that although the rain has stopped since Friday midnight, Agartala may receive a heavy downpour around noon as predicted by the MeT Department, and an alert has been sounded.
“Water is flowing into Howrah River from Barmura Hill which is causing it to swell. We are keeping a close watch on the situation and taking necessary measures,” he said.
