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Shillong, Sept. 28: Nearly 1.1 lakh people in the plains belt of Garo hills have been affected by floods again, just two months after the area was submerged.
The affected people are located in nearly 100 villages in Phulbari, Rajabala, Tikrikilla and Selsella constituencies, state power minister Abu Taher Mondal said over phone today.
Mondal, who also represents Phulbari, has been camping in the area to oversee relief operations. “Usually floods do not occur during this part of the year. But people have been on alert for the past few days,” he said.
With the flood situation in neighbouring Assam grim, the backflow of the Brahmaputra water has led to inundation in the plains belt.
Mondal said paddy fields have been extensively damaged and all the major roads in the area have been submerged. People have moved to higher ground with their cattle.
“As of today, the flood situation is grim,” the minister said, adding that there have been no casualties so far.
West Garo Hills deputy commissioner Pravin Bakshi said 10 relief camps have been opened to accommodate the flood-affected people.
Some of the worst-affected villages in the district include Bhaitmari, Paham, Haripur, Molakandi and Haribangla.
Rajabala police station and Rajabala higher secondary school in Rajabala constituency have also been inundated.
“We have requisitioned boats to facilitate people to come to the relief camps,” Bakshi said.
He said farmers in the plains belt had requested the state government to waive off the loans taken under the Kissan Credit Card scheme, as their paddy fields had been damaged.
In July this year, the plain belt areas had reeled under floods, with around 100 villages, 14,000 households and 75,000 people affected as floodwaters from the Brahmaputra entered the low-lying areas.
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