NE slowly recovering from winter flood

Guwahati, Oct 30 (UNI) The country's northeastern region is slowly recovering from the winter flood, which left a trail of devastation in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, with landslides cutting off strategic locations from the rest of India.

According to a report from the Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh, heavy landslides had cut off many interior areas of West Kameng districts up to the Chinese border from the rest of India.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu yesterday made an aerial visit to the affected areas, many of which needed more than a month to get the road links restored.

At least eight persons were killed and 100 houses damaged following the flash floods in the three rivers-- Jidhingkho, Jinikkho and Doblokkho in Arunachal Pradesh.

The road link between the forward post of Tawang, close to the Chinese border, and the rest of the world had been cut off, sources said.

The flash floods that occurred in the three rivers under the Rupa subdivision in West Kameng district in western Arunachal Pradesh on Monday night and Tuesday morning washed away 100 metres of the Bomdila-Tawang road.

The authorities stated that it would take considerable time to restore the vital link.

As a result, hundreds of tourists had been stranded in Tawang.

Flash floods also occurred in two Assam districts on Tuesday night and affected several thousand people, besides cutting off road link between Guwahati and the rest of India for at least 24 hours.

Though water level had receded, the flood left a trail of devastation especially on the paddy fields, sources added.

While flash floods in the Puthimari river affected over 10,000 people in 21 villages in Kamrup (Rural) district in Lower Assam, at least 50 villages were hit by similar flood caused by the Ranganadi river in Lakhimpur district in Upper Assam.

Initial reports said the Puthimari flash floods were due to a sudden release of river water by Bhutan in the north, where the river originated.

Rangiya SDO (Civil) B B Choudhury said heavy rains in the upstream catchments could be the immediate reason.

Traffic on NH 31, which came to a standstill on Tuesday due to floods, had eased off since yesterday, sources informed.

The embankment at Puthimari, which had earlier been breached on August 31, developed cracks within five days the maintenane work was done at a cost of Rs 19 lakhs, sources added.

UNI MT SB AKJ HT1515