Floods Affect Over 500 Nagaland Villages, Damage Estimated at Rs 800 Crore

At least 12 people have died and about 6,000 families left homeless following incessant rainfall in Nagaland since the last week of July, affecting over  500 villages across the North Eastern state. While Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has sought urgent help from the Centre, there is a possibility of the floods affecting Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, following an alert issued by China on the rising level of river Tsangpo, known as Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra in Assam.

According to the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority officials, about 359 locations of roads including NH-29, have been totally cut off due to heavy rains and subsequent landslides. All the 11 districts in the state are affected, of which Kiphire, which borders Myanmar, has been announced as the worst affected. For immediate relief, Rs 10 lakh has been sanctioned from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to Kiphire.

According to figures from the Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati, the North Eastern states, including Nagaland, has deficit rainfall this year as of August 29. Nagaland recorded 26% deficit rainfall this season, however, the intensity of rain, going up to 100 mm in one hour at times has caused floods in the hill state. In the first week of September, widespread (76%-100%) or fairly widespread (51% -75%) rainfall has been forecast by the India Meteorological Department. The monsoon season in the state continues till the end of October.

Doyang Hydel Project

Apart from the intense rains, flooding in the hilly state has been caused due to the water level rising at the Doyang hydro electric project in Wokha district. Some reports have blamed, the release of additional water from the dam for the flooding in the downstream areas, including 36 villages in Golaghat district of Assam.

According to Nagaland Post, for immediate assistance, the state government has sought Rs  219 crore from the Centre. However, according to state officials’ assessment, the demand can rise to about Rs 400 crore, as the total damage across the state has been estimated around Rs  800 crore.

An inter-ministerial team appointed by the Central government is slated to visit the flood-affected areas from September 4 and access the damage in Nagaland.

China Alert

Meanwhile, China has raised an alert on the possibility of flooding in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, as the water level in river Tsangpo is on rise.

“The local authorities told me that the Chinese government has conveyed to the Indian government that there is a possibility of floods in parts of Arunachal Pradesh. We have taken the alert seriously and cautioned people,” Arunachal Pradesh MP Ninong Ering told PTI on August 30.

On August 31, 19 people in Arunachal Pradesh were airlifted by the Indian Air Force and over 200 people in Assam were rescued by personnel of the National Disaster Response Force from the banks of Brahmaputra river across the region.

This is the first time China is sharing data on rivers with India as agreed in talks held in March between the two countries. China has been providing data from its three hydrological stations — Nugesha, Yangcun and Nuxia-- located on the mainstream of the Brahmaputra. Although China is witnessing unprecedented floods, a Union Water Resources Ministry official told The Indian Express that after analysis of data, the ministry had concluded that the effect may not be strong on India.