The Tripura government on Thursday declared the entire state as a ‘Natural Calamity Affected Area’ considering the aftereffects of massive rainfall and subsequent flooding which led to loss of human lives and public and private properties.
An official of the state government’s Relief Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Department said a total of 32 people have lost their lives due to rainfall-related reasons, including drowning and landslides. Meanwhile, two others were injured and one person is still reported to be missing.
As on date, 346 relief camps are operational across the state which are sheltering around 52,906 people across all eight districts of Tripura. The district administrations are providing necessary relief, including food, drinking water and medical help. The authorities are also ensuring the toilers at these camps are regularly cleaned, bleaching powder and disinfectant are sprayed around the camps and the overall hygiene is maintained in order to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases.
Stating that very heavy rainfall from August 19-24 caused unprecedented floods in the state, the emergency operations centre said the water level of the Gomati river at Sonamura is slowly going down but is still above the flood level. The flood situation is being closely monitored at the highest level, the official added.
Meanwhile, an Inter Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) led by MHA Joint Secretary B C Joshi arrived in Tripura on Wednesday and held a preliminary meeting with the state government officials.
A team went out for on-spot damage assessment in the affected areas of south Tripura and Gomati districts.
Meanwhile, doctors have held 1,867 health camps and treated 43,887 persons till now in the wake of complaints of water-borne diseases and snake bites.
The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation has issued a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) relating to solid waste management, wastewater management, and safe sanitation practices aimed at mitigating the risk of water-borne diseases.
As on date, power supply has been restored in all areas of the 18 power divisions of the state while supply has been reinstated in 70 per cent of the areas in rest of the six divisions which are located mostly in South Tripura, Gomati, and Sepahijala districts where extensive areas are still submerged due to waterlogging.
Power supplies are expected to be normalised in these areas as well in the next two to three days, if the water level comes down, said an official of the Power department.
Apart from losses in the agriculture sector, infrastructure damages, including road, power transmission network, and buildings, have been badly affected due to the floods, resulting in loss of livelihood and income.
The state government’s Labour department has decided to provide a one-time financial assistance of Rs 4,000 from the labour cess funds to every registered worker.
The decision would benefit 42,981 registered construction workers of the state. The government will shell out Rs 17.2 crore for the purpose.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) maintained a yellow alert in Tripura along with several other states of the country in its Thursday bulletin.