Kiren Rijiju to lead Central team to assess relief, rescue operations in flood-hit North East

New Delhi: Union minister Kiren Rijiju will lead a high-level Central team to assess rescue and relief operations in flood affected areas in the North East. During the three-day tour, beginning Thursday, the Central delegation will visit Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, where more than 15 lakh people were marooned by flood water. [caption id=“attachment_3729465” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Kiren Rijiju. Image courtesy: PIB[/caption] “The minister of state for home will lead a high-level Central team on Thursday to supervise the rescue and relief operations in flood affected different parts of the North East,” an official statement said. The team will include members from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Central forces along with state agencies are involved in the rescue and relief operation in the three states and, if the situation arises, additional Central forces can be deputed from other parts of the country, the statement said. At least 39 people have lost their lives in Assam where 15 lakh people in 23 districts have been affected by the deluge. Five persons were killed and nine went missing as a massive landslide triggered by incessant rains hit eight dwellings in Arunachal Pradesh’s Papum Pare district on Tuesday. In Manipur, more than 20 percent of the total paddy fields in all five districts of Imphal valley were hit by the floods. Manipur has suffered a loss of around Rs 131 crore in the floods since cyclone Mora hit the state in late May, leading to floods and related incidents like landslides, state Principal Secretary (Relief and Disaster Management) MH Khan said on Tuesday.