Flash floods kill 8 in Arunachal, hit 70 villages in Assam

Flash floods also occurred in two Assam districts on Tuesday night and affected several thousand people, besides partially cutting off road link between Guwahati and the rest of India for at least 24 hours.

While flash floods in the Puthimari river affected over 10,000 people in 21 villages in Kamrup (Rural) district in Lower Assam, at least 50 villages were affected in Lakhimpur district in Upper Assam due to similar floods caused by the Ranganadi. Initial reports said the Puthimari flash floods were due to sudden release of water by Bhutan in the north where the river originates. Rangiya SDO (Civil) B B Choudhury said heavy rains in the upstream catchments could be the immediate reason.

The floodwaters — that entered villages through several breaches which had not been repaired since a major flood occurred in August and September — have, however, receded, but not before causing severe damage to properties of people who had only recently returned home from relief camps.

In Lakhimpur, 50 villages were inundated due to flash floods that occurred in the Ranganadi on Monday night. Lakhimpur Deputy Commissioner Jayant Narlikar said the floods were caused due to a cloud burst in Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh, forcing the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) to release excess waters from its hydel project upstream.

Flash floods in the Jiya-Bharali river, which also comes down from Arunachal Pradesh, on the other hand, have inundated 12 villages in Sonitpur district. The Jiya-Bharali has also caused extensive damage to the Nameri National Park, which was preparing to reopen for tourists on November 1.