Seven die in Tripura landslides, two others missing

Agartala, Aug 20 (PTI) At least seven people, including three members of a family, were killed while two villagers went missing after landslides triggered by incessant rains occurred at three to four places in Tripura, a senior official said on Tuesday.

While five deaths were reported from South Tripura district, one casualty each happened in Gomati and Khowai districts, Revenue Department Secretary Brijesh Pandey said.

The two missing cases were reported from Khowai and Gomati districts, he said.

A number of areas were waterlogged as the state was lashed by heavy rain since Sunday.

The official said a red alert has been sounded in South Tripura district following the Meteorology department’s warning for moderate to heavy rain, while there was an orange alert in the remaining seven districts of the northeastern state.

“For the past 48 hours, the state recorded unprecedented rainfall triggering landslides in many areas and rendered thousands of people homeless. Currently, 5607 families who were severely affected by the rain took shelter in 183 relief camps. Relief is being given to the affected people,” he told a press conference in the evening.

The three members of a family died at Debipur in South Tripura district when their house collapsed due to a massive landslide on Monday night, Santirbazar Sub-Divisional Magistrate Abhedananda Baidya told PTI.

In Gomati district, a 52-year-old man was killed and another went missing in Karbook area following a landslide on August 19, Additional District Magistrate Binoy Bhusan Das said.

A 14-year-old boy died when mounds of earth fell on his house in Champlai area in Khowai district on Monday, a police officer said.

Details of the two other deaths and one missing person are not immediately available.

Chief Minister Manik Saha, who is in Delhi, instructed the administrations to take appropriate action in view of the natural calamity.

He is scheduled to return to Tripura on Tuesday night.

Several low-lying areas of the Santirbazar subdivision in South Tripura have been submerged due to heavy rain, Baidya said.

Water was flowing above the danger level in Muhuri and Lawgang rivers and four relief camps were set up for the flood-affected people in the subdivision, he said.

“Due to heavy rain, several areas in South Tripura and other districts are experiencing flooding. In response, relief centres have been set up to provide support to those affected,” the chief minister said in a post on Facebook. PTI PS BDC NN