Nagaland rains: State requires Rs 800 crore to repair damage caused by flash floods, says govt official

Kohima: The Nagaland government requires around Rs 800 crore immediately for the restoration of the damages caused by landslides and flash flood during this monsoon season, a top state government official said Monday. [caption id=“attachment_5105461” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Getty images[/caption] Home and State Disaster Management Authority, secretary, Rovilatuo Mor said the unprecedented series of disasters in Nagaland has affected at least 13.19 percent of the total population of the state and severely affected 48,821 families in 532 villages while an area of 5408.57 acres agricultural sector have also been impacted. Mor said that the series of disasters during this monsoon season has disrupted the roads in multiple locations, rendered many people homeless and damaged agriculture. The state capital Kohima and the districts of Tuensang, Kiphire and Phek have been severely affected, he said. The three districts of Tuensang, Kiphire and Phek were cut off from the rest of the state for about 15 days since the rains became incessant from the 26 July, he said adding that about 359 locations of roads have been totally cut off sending the state into an SoS situation. Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) and the department of Food and Civil Supplies in collaboration with the Indian Air Force made numerous sorties to these districts to airdrop essential supplies. Because of the disaster incidents, 12 lives have been lost and more than 3,000 families have been displaced while properties worth crores of rupees were damaged, he informed. With the rigorous efforts of the concerned departments, roads have been cleared to some extend and essential commodities are being reached to interior areas including Kiphire district by road, he said. Union Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju had arrived in Dimapur on 5 August to survey and assess the situation. However, inclement weather did not allow him to take an aerial survey of the situation and therefore on the recommendation of the Union Minister an Inter Ministerial Central Team is to visit Nagaland from the 4 to 7 September to make an on-the-spot assessment of the monsoon damages, the officer added.