Arunachal Pradesh flash flood: Toll rises to four, two still missing; search and rescue operations underway

Itanagar: With the recovery of one more body from neighbouring Assam, the toll in flash floods of Arunachal Pradesh has mounted to four while two others are still missing, an official said Saturday. Triggered by incessant rain in the past few days, flash flood and landslides affected normal lives in several places of Itanagar, Capital Deputy Commissioner Prince Dhawan said. [caption id=“attachment_5191201” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Twenty-six houses have been washed away while over 60 were fully or partially damaged at affected sites such as Modirijo, the Donyi Polo area, Chandra Nagar, Lobi, GSS Police colony, Press colony, Dhawan said. “The body of one person was recovered on Saturday from Dikrong river near Harmutty in Assam’s Lakhimpur district,” he said. The flash flood also claimed three other lives, while two persons have been missing. Dhawan said five teams of NDRF and four from SDRF were undertaking search and rescue operation since morning to trace the two missing persons. The approach road to Modirijo has been washed away while half of the culvert has been reported to be damaged in Donyi polo area. A few cars and bikes have also been reportedly swept away in the flood river. Dhawan said many schools in the capital complex have been designated as temporary relief shelters. Land protection wall of several nallahs and rivulets in the state capital have been badly damaged. The water plants at Poma and Itanagar were damaged causing disruption in water supply to people. PHED sources said minor repair works on the pants could be completed within two days while major repair works would take several days.