Agartala: August 20: Tripura is currently grappling with severe flooding and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall. The calamity has resulted in the deaths of seven people, including a child, with two others reported missing. The water levels of the Haora, Dhलाई, Muhuri, and Khowai rivers have surpassed the danger mark, leading to a flood situation in the South, Gomati, and Khowai districts.
During a press conference at the Secretariat, Revenue Secretary Brijesh Pandey expressed deep concern over the crisis but assured that the administration is making all efforts to normalize the situation. Chief Minister Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha, who is currently in Delhi, is monitoring the situation and will conduct a comprehensive review upon his return.
Pandey reported that the continuous rainfall over the past 48 hours has significantly raised the water levels of various rivers, causing widespread flooding. Extremely heavy rainfall was recorded in Bagafa (375.8 mm) in South Tripura district and Amarpur (307.1 mm) in Gomati district over the past 24 hours, resulting in severe damage. The Haora, Dhलाई, Muhuri, and Khowai rivers were flowing above the danger mark as of 4 PM. The Chief Minister is closely monitoring the flood situation from New Delhi and will hold a review meeting upon his return this evening.
Due to the heavy rainfall, the district administration has opened 183 relief camps to shelter 5,607 affected families. These camps are located in West Tripura (24), Gomati (68), South Tripura (30), and Khowai (39) districts. The district and sub-divisional administrations are providing essential amenities such as food, drinking water, and medical facilities in these relief camps. The situation is being closely monitored by district magistrates and state-level officials. Various departments, including BDOs, Irrigation, Electricity, PWD, Forest, Police, Fire Service, and paramilitary forces, are working around the clock to mitigate the impact of the floods and provide relief and rescue operations.
Landslides have occurred in many areas due to the heavy rainfall, causing trees to fall and block roads. Rescue operations have been initiated promptly. There have been reports of damage to houses and livestock, and assessments are underway to estimate the losses. Relief will be provided to the affected families soon. Unfortunately, seven people have lost their lives due to landslides, with five deaths reported in South Tripura district and one each in Khowai and Gomati districts. Additionally, one person is missing in each of Gomati and Khowai districts.
Over 200 teams from SDRF (TSRF), NDRF, Civil Defense Volunteers, Disaster Mitra Volunteers, Fire and Emergency Services, Forest, TSECL, PWD (WR), PWD (R&B), Agriculture, and other line departments have been deployed to deal with the natural disaster and are carrying out relief and rescue operations as per local needs and the flood situation.
The weather forecast indicates heavy to very heavy rainfall in all districts of Tripura over the next two days due to the monsoon. A red alert has been issued for South Tripura, and an orange alert for the rest of the state. Pandey assured that although the flood situation is severe due to incessant rainfall, it is under control. The district administration is keeping a close watch and taking appropriate measures. He advised people to stay calm and patient, as the administration will overcome the situation with everyone’s cooperation.
