Rain for over a week have caused floods in Mizoram in Northeast India. With 205 villages affected, as many as 5,000 people have been lodged in relief camps.
Aizawl: As many as 5,000 people have been lodged in relief camps and more than 4,000 people evacuated in Mizoram following floods triggered by heavy rain for the last seven days, officials said on Wednesday. Rain-related incidents have so far claimed five lives in Mizoram.
State disaster management and rehabilitation department officials said the floods had affected 1,968 families in 205 villages, besides destroying 1,523 houses in all the eight districts of the north-eastern state.
At least 5,070 people were lodged in 66 relief camps and 4,322 people were being evacuated, the officials said. Lunglei district in south Mizoram was the worst hit, they added.
Over 700 houses in the low-lying areas of the district were inundated by the swollen Khawtlang Tuipui river. Paddy fields in the low-lying areas were also submerged by the raging waters of the rivers.
The state government was gearing up to reconstruct damaged properties and provide relief to the affected people, the officials said.
Flooding is a cause of concern in the North-East. Assam has been hit by floods too and the government on Tuesday released Rs 251.55 crore as assistance from the central share of SDRF for 2019-20.
Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home minister Amit Shah for the prompt release of the funds even as the death toll mounted to 17 and floodwaters submerged 30 of the 33 districts.
Congress members from Assam and Bihar criticised the Union government in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday over its handling of floods in Assam and Bihar, a charge refuted by the ruling BJP.
Gourav Gogoi of the Congress asked the Centre to declare floods in Assam a national disaster and said 15 persons have been killed and over 43 lakh displaced by the natural calamity.
Mohammad Jawed of the Congress said the Centre had extended no help to flood victims in Bihar. People have been forced to eat rats, he said.
BJP's Ramkripal Yadav accused the Congress of misleading the House. He said over Rs 261 crore has been given to Bihar and both Union and state governments have been doing their utmost to provide relief to victims.
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