GUWAHATI: Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday morning airlifted 19 persons including children who were stranded in an isle in swelling Siang River in East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, to safety by using ropes and ladders.
The rescued persons, who hail from Jonai district of eastern Assam, were then brought to the East Siang district headquarter at Pasighat.
The Deputy Commissioner of East Siang district, Tamiyo Tatak informed that the rescue operation started at 4.30 am and was over in an hour. He said there were total 24 persons on the river isle and four youths and an elderly person chose to stay behind.
The people were trapped in Sille-Oyan river isle where rescue boats could not be sent because of rising water level in Siang River.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Pema Khandu in a tweet has expressed his gratitude to IAF pilots who rescued the trapped people from the river isle early Friday morning.
Meanwhile, the district administration of East Siang as well as district administrations of Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur and Majuli in Assam have sounded flood alert due to unprecedented rise of water level in Siang river, which is creating panic among the people living in downstream Assam.
East Siang Deputy Commissioner (DC) Tamiyo Tatak following a report of heavy downpour at Tsangpo river in China, which was shared with Arunachal government by Government of India, sounded alert of possible deluge by Siang river and asked the people residing in low lying areas to refrain from venturing into Siang river and nearby water bodies to prevent any eventualities.
The DC in a circular issued on Wednesday stated that Tsangpo River was swelling with observed discharge of 9020 cumec on Wednesday morning, which breached the record of the last five decades.
On receiving alert message from Arunachal Pradesh government, district administration in Dhemaji in Assam also sounded high alert and asked the people remain ready for shifting to safer locations at very short notice.
The water resource department is keeping a close tab on the situation and any impending danger would be informed to the people in advance.
Likewise, Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner, Laya Maddhuri referring to report of Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) , has warned the people of unprecedented rise of water level in mighty Brahmaputra.
The DC in an order issued on Thursday asked government officials not to leave headquarter for the days and stay alert to deal with the situation. She has also cancelled all the earlier permission granted to officials to leave headquarter.
The Central Water Commission (CWC) reported that the discharge of Tsangpo on August 14 was 8070 cumec and incremental discharge should not inflict severe damages and as such should not panic.
As per report of Water Resource department, Siang is flowing below the danger mark at Pasighat till 6 pm on Thursday evening.