Cloud burst in Arunachal Pradesh: floods and landslides reported

Itanagar: Several regions across the state of Arunachal Pradesh witnessed severe floods and landslides on Sunday morning after an unexpected cloudburst. The disaster has caused chaos in the twin capital cities of Itanagar and Naharlagun, India Today reported.

The cloud burst happened around 10:30 am, causing landslides in several areas of Itanagar. Lengths of NH-415 were inundated, causing transportation challenges in the affected areas.

The Disaster Management Department said that there were no warnings or forecasts of rains in the state capital. The cloudburst caused heavy rainfall in ICR, it said.

Local authorities, however, started to assess the damage and initiated relief for those in affected areas.

Meanwhile, in Assam, more than 1.17 lakh people across ten districts continued to struggle with the flooding on Sunday, according to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who expressed the dire situation of the state's flood crisis. 968 villages in 27 revenue circles in these regions have been inundated by floodwaters, he stated in a post on X.

The authorities are presently running 134 relief camps and 94 relief distribution centres, where a total of 17,661 people are taking shelter currently, he added.

Sarma also said that the Kushiyara River is at present flowing above the danger mark at Karimganj in the Barak Valley.

On Saturday, the flood situation had improved marginally as the number of affected people decreased, though two more deaths were reported, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

Cropland of 3,995.33 hectares was still under flood waters, while 2,20,546 animals, including 47,795 poultry, remained affected, it added.

Damage to various infrastructures like houses, cattle sheds, roads, bridges, and embankments was reported across the state, the ASDMA said.