Itanagar, July 10: Fresh floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall damaged houses, roads and agricultural land across six districts of Arunachal Pradesh over the past 24 hours, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast a gradual decline in rainfall from July 10.
According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), the latest incidents were reported from Keyi Panyor, Upper Siang, Tirap, Changlang, Papum Pare and Upper Subansiri districts.
The IMD issued an Orange Alert for Shi Yomi, Siang, East Siang, Lower Dibang Valley, Lohit and Longding districts on Thursday, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning. Rainfall activity is expected to weaken from Friday, with Orange Alerts confined to Papum Pare, Lower Dibang Valley and Tirap districts. Weather conditions are likely to improve further over the weekend, although eastern and foothill districts will remain under Yellow Alert until Monday due to the possibility of heavy rain and thunderstorms.
The latest spell of rain affected Yingkiong village in Upper Siang; Khonsa town and Kheti village in Tirap; several villages in Changlang, including Phangtip, Old Jukhi, Yanman and Namtok; multiple villages in Papum Pare; and Eru, Ningpin, Daru, Uli and several other villages in Upper Subansiri.
The state has witnessed widespread devastation over the past two weeks, with six people losing their lives in rain-related incidents. Two labourers from Bihar were killed in a landslide at a construction site in Lohit district on Wednesday, while two women swept away by flash floods in Keyi Panyor on June 24 remain missing. Earlier, three people died in flash floods at Possa in Keyi Panyor and another person was killed in a landslide at Sarti village in Anjaw district.
The SEOC said 94,201 people across 333 villages in 237 circles covering 26 districts have been affected by the floods and landslides.
The disaster has damaged 334.2 hectares of crop area, including 185.5 hectares of horticulture land and 148.7 hectares of agricultural fields, besides affecting nearly 1,010 hectares of forest area.
Public infrastructure has also suffered extensive damage, including 131 roads, 19 bridges, 21 culverts, 191 water supply systems, 58 government buildings, 21 power lines, 224 electric poles, four hydel projects, seven retaining walls, seven flood protection walls, two hospitals and three schools. Hundreds of houses have also been damaged across the state.
Two relief camps remain operational in Keyi Panyor district, where 252 displaced people are taking shelter, while rescue, relief and restoration operations continue in the affected areas.
