Floods, landslides claim 9 lives in North-East

GUWAHATI/DIBRUGARH: Nine lives were lost due to continuous rainfall triggering landslides, while worsening the flood situation, in the North-East since Monday, even as IMD issued an “orange warning” in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland for three days, starting Wednesday.
The number of people hit by floods in Assam surged to 11.34 lakh across 28 districts on Tuesday – up from 6.44 lakh in 19 districts on Monday.The season’s flood-related death toll in Assam since May has gone upto to 38. Ravaging floods have also inundated almost the entire Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve spread over 1,300 sq km – except certain locations in Panbari Reserve Forest – and nearly 80% of Dibru-Saikhowa National Park. In Kaziranga, four hog deer have drowned and floods have forced other animals to move to higher land.
While two persons drowned in Tinsukia, another one was swept away in Dhemaji in Assam. In Cachar, a 28-year-old man and his six-month-old son lost their lives when a mud wall of their house collapsed.
In Mizoram, a couple and their four-year-old daughter were killed in a landslide on the outskirts of Aizawl.
In Nagaland’s Kusong village, a 35-year-old man was swept away by strong currents of the Nguhaiu river in Noklak on Monday. His body was retrieved by locals at midnight.
The Met dept has predicted that the situation may improve from Wednesday with a decline in rainfall intensity.