Eight persons were killed and 100 houses damaged following flash floods in three rivers — Jidhingkho, Jinikkho and Doblokkho — in Arunachal Pradesh, while the road link between the forward post of Tawang, close to the Chinese border, and the rest of the world has been cut off.

The flash floods that occurred in the three rivers in the Rupa subdivision in West Kameng district in western Arunachal Pradesh on Monday night and Tuesday morning washed away 100 metres of the Bomdila-Tawang road, with the authorities saying it would take “considerable time” to restore the vital road link. Several hundred tourists have also been stranded in Tawang.

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.

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