Monsoon kills dozens in North India, North East; lakhs affected in Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura

Lakhs of people have been affected, and majority displaced, after heavy rains lashed parts of north and North East India in the last week. Lakhs have been displaced as monsoons hit northern states like Bihar and North East states like Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura. Around 11 people have died in Assam while in Bihar around 18 lakh people have been affected.  In Meghalaya, continuous rains for the last seven days has led to the flooding of the plains of West Garo Hills. Two districts in Tripura were forced to take shelter in relief camps following incessant rains for the past two days in the state’s capital, Agartala. Bihar In  Bihar, the flood situation  turned grim on Sunday with the death of four people. Around 18 lakh people in nine districts of the state have been affected an official report said. Five rivers of the state are flowing above the danger level due to torrential rains in the catchment areas bordering Nepal, as reported by the Disaster Management Department. [caption id=“attachment_6992671” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A boy sits in a container to move across a flooded village in Morigaon district of Assam. PTI[/caption] A population of 17,96,535 has been affected by floodwaters in 55 blocks of nine districts — Sheohar, Sitamarhi, East Champaran, Madhubani, Araria, Kishanganj, Supaul, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur. The report added that about 11 lakh people have been affected in the worst-hit Sitamarhi district, followed by 5 lakh in Araria. It said 13 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) have been deployed to carry out relief and rescue operations in the affected districts. The authorities have also opened 152 relief camps giving shelter to 45,053 people, while 251 community kitchens have been made functional. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a high-level meeting to review the flood situation. Later, he conducted an aerial survey of flood-affected areas of Darbhanga, Madhubani, Sheohar, Sitamarhi and East Champaran districts. Assam The flood situation in North East India took a turn for the worse with  Assam's toll rising to 11 and affecting nearly 26.5 lakh people across 28 districts. An Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) report said fresh deaths were reported from Jorhat, Barpeta and Dhubri districts on Sunday. Of the 28 affected districts, Barpeta is the worst hit with 7.35 lakh people affected, followed by Morigaon where 3.50 lakh people are hit. They are followed by Dhubri where the number of affected is 3.38 lakh, the ASDMA said. Till Saturday, around 14.06 lakh people were affected in 25 districts out of the total 33 districts. “As per the Met department forecast, there will be more rainfall across Assam and the water level in the Brahmaputra is likely to rise,” Kumar Sanjay Krishna, additional chief secretary (revenue and disaster management), said at a press conference on Sunday. The  Kaziranga National Park  in the state was also hit as 70 percent of the park and its 95 camps were submerged in water and keeping in mind the gravity of the situation, forest officers were asked to remain on duty and their leaves were cancelled. Meghalaya Incessant rains across Meghalaya for the past seven days and rising waters of two rivers flooded the plains of West Garo Hills district, affect at least 1.14 lakh people, officials said on Monday. A total of 57,700 people, residents of 50 villages in Demdema block and over 66,400, residents of 104 villages in Selsella block have been affected due to the floods, they said. Rising waters of the Brahmaputra and the Jinjiram rivers, both flowing from Assam, submerged the low-lying areas of the district, an official said. Meanwhile, the low-lying areas of the state’s capital city Shillong were also flooded. “A flood-like situation was created in the low-lying areas of the city,” the Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills district, MW Nongbri said. The Meghalaya government on Sunday announced seven days of Gratuitous Relief (GR) for the flood-affected people of West Garo Hills district, an official said. Efforts are on to evacuate the flood victims and take them to safer locations, and arrangements were also being made to provide drinking water and other relief materials, the official added. Tripura In Tripura’s capital Agartala, a t least 10,000 people of two districts of Tripura were rendered homeless and forced to take shelter in relief camps following floods caused by incessant rain for the last two days, officials of the state revenue department said Sunday. State Project Officer of Disaster Management, Sarat Das, said personnel of the NDRF, and security forces of the state-rescued a number of stranded people from Khowai and West Tripura districts. Around 8,000 and 2,000 people had taken shelter in government buildings and local clubs in West Tripura and Khowai districts, where temporary relief camps were opened by the administration. “Sufficient boats and rescue teams were kept in readiness to tackle the situation if it turns worse. District administrations were working to provide food and other relief materials to the flood-affected people,” Das told PTI. He said rain and thundershower have been forecast for Monday. “We have arranged food, water and medicines for the flood victims,” Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Sadar, Ashim Saha said. The worst affected areas in and around Agartala city included Srilanka Basti, Baldakhal, Ambedkar Colony, Pratapgarh which are close to the river Haora. With inputs from PTI