SHILLONG, Oct 9: Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Kyrmen Shylla on Wednesday said he had seen the worst flood and landslide situation of his entire tenure in Garo Hills recently.
Seventeen people had lost their lives while six others were injured. Hundreds of people were also rendered homeless.
Shylla said 6,51,083 people and 246 villages were affected in the state in the recent rains. He said the state government tried its best to warn people through advanced weather forecast.
To a query, he said the government did not expect such heavy rainfall.
He said on receiving warnings from the India Meteorological Department, the State Disaster Management Authority/State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) had issued warnings through Common Alerting Protocol based on Integrated Alert System of the Government of India. He said the SEOC and the ERSS (Dial 112) got activated 24×7.
Shylla said an online review meeting was conducted on October 5 with all Deputy Commissioners under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma. He said all districts were instructed to take immediate necessary actions, including relief measures and issuance of advisories to the public.
The minister said NDRF personnel from Guwahati had arrived in West Garo Hills on October 4. He added that an SDRF team from Shillong was sent to Tura and kept on standby until further orders.
Currently, 65 personnel – 27 from NDRF, eight from SDRF and 30 from BSF – are deployed at Atisia Songmong village.
The government has announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of those who died in multiple landslides.
Cabinet Minister and government spokesperson, Ampareen Lyngdoh said Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma along his cabinet colleagues and MLAs are camping in Garo Hills to address the needs of those affected.
Assuring all help and support to those impacted by the floods, she said the government has put the various government machineries on high alert to address the needs of those displaced and seeking help.
“We will go all out to ensure that medical facilities are on complete alert. Several meeting was held by the chief minister with officials of the Health, Disaster Management and related line departments. We will work hard to extend our solidarity to the families undergoing this painful agony during this festive season,” she added.
Opposition Chief Whip and Congress legislator, Ronnie V Lyngdoh said the recent natural disaster in parts of Garo Hills is a wakeup call and efforts should be made to ensure that Meghalaya is also part and parcel of the global and international effort to mitigate the negative effects of climate change.
“It is very unfortunate and this is not just confined to Meghalaya. This is a worldwide phenomenon. Human activity is responsible for all this. We need to wake up as a state and not act only when such disaster happens,” Lyngdoh said.