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Shillong/New Delhi: Units of the Indian Army have stepped up relief efforts in the northeastern states after swollen rivers caused devastation in the
region, leaving over 75,000 people homeless Sunday in Meghalaya
alone, an official said.
The swollen Brahmaputra and Jingiram rivers submerged whole
villages in Meghalaya. More than 15,000 houses went under a sea of
floodwater, West Garo Hills' district commissioner Pravin Bakshi
told IANS.
The Jinjiram, one the major rivers in Garo Hills, caused havoc
after it breached a major embankment, flooding low-lying areas.
No loss of life has been reported so far.
The district administration has sought boats to evacuate people
from the flooded region with the help of civil defence and Home
Guards.
Bakshi said that 15 camps have been set up to accommodate the
displaced people.
A total of 122 relief and rescue teams have been deployed in Assam
and Arunachal Pradesh where overflowing Brahmaputra and its
tributaries have caused havoc, army spokesperson Veerendra Singh
said in Delhi.
Relief operations are on in Sonitpur, Kamrup, Barpeta, Tinsukia,
Sivasagar, Jorhat, Dhemaji, Baksa, Nalbari and Darrang areas in
Assam, and Changlang in Arunachal Pradesh, according to Singh.
The army teams, he said, were using 122 boats and outboard motors
and 540 life jackets to rescue thousands of stranded people.
So far, around 3,500 people have been rescued, while over a
hundred injured have been given medical aid.
Besides 180 food packets, around 3,000 kg of ration provided by
the civil administration have been distributed among people
stranded in isolated areas.
Helicopters are also being used for the relief work.
"The army reconnaissance teams with the help of civil
administration are identifying all affected areas to provide
immediate relief to the people," Singh said.
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