Tripura floods: Death toll reaches 24, over 1 lakh rendered homeless
India’s state revenue secretary Brijesh Pandey said that since August 19, the government has formed 558 relief camps to shelter the homeless
At least 24 people have so far been killed and two missing in Tripura, with over nearly 1.28 lakh rendered homeless and rescued to shelters in different parts of the state following flooding due to heavy rainfall over the past week, Indian officials said on Friday.
India's state revenue secretary Brijesh Pandey said that since August 19, the government has formed 558 relief camps to shelter the homeless.
Indian officials said that the flood situation is improving slowly in the state as the rainfall in the past 24 hours has decreased, with water levels in all rivers except Gomati at Sonamura in Sepahijala district going below the danger level on Friday.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
As per initial estimation, a loss of nearly Rs.5,000 crore has been reported due to the floods. On August 19, the state witnessed 288.8 mm of rainfall in a single day—considered to be the highest rainfall ever witnessed—in one of its eight flood-affected districts.
Meanwhile, the Centre has released a Rs.40 crore package for rescue, relief, and rehabilitation in the flood-affected areas.
"Given the flood situation in Tripura, the central govt, under the leadership of Modi Ji, has approved the release of ₹40 crore in advance, as the central share from SDRF, to provide relief to the affected people. The 11 NDRF teams, 3 columns of the Army, and 4 helicopters of the Air Force deployed by the Centre are already assisting the state govt. in relief and rescue operations. No matter what, our sisters and brothers in Tripura will find the Modi govt standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them to battle these difficult times," wrote Union home minister Amit Shah on X.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), light to moderate rainfall is expected tomorrow in many parts of the state. The state administration has advised people to take precautionary measures due to the prediction of more rainfall.
Due to the current flood situation, the government announced on Thursday that all educational institutions, including government, government-aided, and private (schools, colleges, and state-run universities), which have been shut since Tuesday, will remain closed until further notice.
