Meghalaya not on Centre’s list of flood-affected states

NEW DELHI: Heavy rains and cloudburst for the past few days have caused deluge in the Garo Hills region of Meghalaya, besides many Bangladesh villages. However, the hill state does not find any mention in the list of nine flood-affected states.
More than a lakh people have been affected due to fresh floods that hit West Garo Hills district on Thursday morning.
Tura and over 40 villages have been hit by the floods with reports of some villages getting submerged in swirling water. But ironically, Meghalaya does not find mention in the Centre’s list of nine flood-affected states.
Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted separate Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) for nine flood-affected States — Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
Normally, state governments undertake assessment/evaluation of losses and provide relief measures according to the magnitude of the ground situation, in the wake of natural calamities, including flood and place it for Centre’s approval. But in the case of nine states, the Union government has taken note of the calamity on its own.
Meanwhile, reports said that many low-lying areas in Sherpur district of Bangladesh were flooded due to incessant rainfall for the past few days and the sudden onrush of water from the upper catchment of Meghalaya.
The flood protection embankment collapsed and inundated low-lying areas including many areas.