Flood, landslide death toll rises to 46
TURA/SHILLONG: Around a dozen buses plying at night from Tura to Guwahati and Shillong have stopped operating since Sunday due to the prevailing flood situation in Garo Hills.
Following the collapse of the road communication network only Sumos and smaller vehicles have been plying to and fro Tura-Shillong since Wednesday morning.
Fuel stations in Garo Hills have been exhausted of their supply and there is only a limited quantity for Government purpose in reserve stock. Rice is available for just one week while sugar is in stock for only four days in Tura, Government sources informed.
The road from Assam’s Paikan to Tura has been opened for traffic but only small vehicles including Sumos are being allowed. No buses or trucks are permitted due to damage to bridges and approach roads at Krishnai and Bajengdoba.
The Tura to Williamnagar road has been opened to traffic and even the Mankachar buses begun plying on Friday.
Earlier, the dwindling stock of essential items such as rice, sugar and fuel was discussed at the review meeting where district officials pointed out that stock of food grains such as rice and sugar had dropped with no fresh supply arriving due to the disruption of road communication following the devastating floods and landslides.
The possibility of bringing in essential food items from Barpeta to Dhubri and across the Brahmaputra into Phulbari by boat was one of the alternative routes raised at the meeting while a second line of road communication from Assam to Tura via Williamnagar was also taken up during the review meeting.
Meanwhile, a Government statement said that the situation in the flood and landslide affected areas of Garo Hills remained grim even as the water continued to recede in many places. The death toll in the region has increased to 46 after the recovery of five more bodies in North Garo Hills.
The government statement said that amid continued search operations by NDRF teams, the toll may rise further.
According to the Government, NH-62 has opened up for vehicles carrying loads not beyond 9 MT. Landslides on NH-51 were cleared on Friday evening and vehicles stranded at Bajengdoba proceeded to Tura.
According to the Government, arrangement for transportation of stocks of essential commodities is being made through NH-62 to Williamnagar and NH-51 to Tura. Some of the relief camps in the areas where the water level has gone down have been done away with since people have returned to their homes.
Additional medical personnel from Tura have been rushed to the affected places to assist in providing better medical care in order to prevent and minimize disease outbreak.
Arrangement is also being made for airlifting of additional medicine by the IAF helicopters to ensure that there is no dearth of it.
Public Health Engineering (PHE) has been asked to provide additional tankers and install hand pumps/serviceable tube wells wherever required to supplement the water supplies.
The weather on Friday was cloudy and raining heavily in some places of Khasi Hills and Garo Hills and all Deputy Commissioners have been alerted about possibility of heavy rain on Friday and Saturday.