Fresh floods, landslides hit five districts as situation remains grim in Arunachal

Itanagar, Jul 16 (PTI) Fresh floods and landslides were reported in Arunachal Pradesh, damaging houses, roads and crops, officials said on Thursday. The ongoing spell of rain-triggered floods and landslides has so far claimed seven lives, injured 29 people and affected 1,03,860 people across the northeastern state. According to the state Disaster Management Department's daily situation report issued on Thursday evening, fresh floods and landslides were reported in East Kameng, Upper Subansiri, Upper Siang, Kamle and Kra Daadi districts in the last 24 hours. Seppa and Bameng circles in East Kameng, Daporijo in Upper Subansiri, Mariyang, Migging and Tuting in Upper Siang; Gepen, Puchigeko and Raga in Kamle; and Tali circle in Kra Daadi district were affected. The report said 640 people in East Kameng and 53 in Kamle were affected in the last 24 hours. Infrastructure losses due to floods and landslides in the last 24 hours include roads and drainage systems in East Kameng, 13 minor irrigation projects and channels and a flood protection wall in Upper Siang, three bridges in Kamle, and a bridge and two retaining walls in Kra Daadi. Upper Siang remains the worst-hit district with 49,259 affected people, followed by Siang (25,365), Kra Daadi (13,731), East Kameng (6,786), Upper Subansiri (3,467), Namsai (2,657) and Anjaw (1,011), the report stated. Official figures show that 804 houses have been damaged across the state, including 614 kutcha and 120 pucca houses. Damage has also been reported to roads, bridges, power infrastructure, government buildings, schools, hospitals, water supply schemes and flood protection structures. The cumulative loss to agriculture and horticulture has increased to 603.75 hectares, comprising 240 hectares of agricultural land and 363.75 hectares of horticulture plantations, it said. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast continued rain across Arunachal Pradesh from Friday, with heavy to very heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning likely over several districts during the next three days. An 'orange' alert (be prepared) has been issued for Papum Pare, Tirap and Changlang on Friday, warning of thunderstorms with lightning and heavy rainfall. The warning has been extended on Saturday for Longding, East Siang, Lower Subansiri, Papum Pare, Tirap and Changlang, which are likely to witness thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and heavy rainfall. The IMD has also warned of very heavy rainfall over Lohit and Papum Pare on the same day. The weather is expected to improve from Sunday, with most districts likely to remain under 'yellow' alert (be aware) or no warning, indicating a gradual reduction in the intensity of rainfall. By Monday, weather conditions are expected to improve further across most parts of the state, although light to moderate rain may continue at isolated places. The IMD has advised district authorities and residents in the affected areas to remain alert, as heavy rainfall may trigger landslides, flash floods, waterlogging and disruption of road connectivity, particularly in vulnerable locations. PTI UPL UPL ACD