Tripura floods force 11,000 people into relief camps as thousands of homes damaged

Heavy rain over the past few days has triggered flooding in three districts of Tripura, forcing around 11,000 people to move into relief camps and damaging more than 4,000 houses, officials said on Friday.

The worst-affected districts are Unakoti, Dhalai and Khowai, where swelling rivers and flash floods inundated low-lying areas after intense rainfall on Wednesday and Thursday. No loss of life has been reported so far.

Officials said the flood situation showed signs of improvement on Friday after water levels in the Manun river began to recede following a break in the rain.

According to the State Disaster Management Authority, 6,068 people in Unakoti district have taken shelter in 35 relief camps. A further 4,909 people from Dhalai and Khowai districts have also been moved to camps after being affected by the deluge.

Sanat Kumar Das, project director of the State Disaster Management Authority, said around 11,000 people had been displaced by the flooding, while 4,027 houses had been damaged.

The flooding has also triggered a political row, with Congress MLA Birajit Sinha alleging that the water resources department failed to repair sluice gates in time, worsening the flood situation in several vulnerable areas.

Responding to the allegation, officials said 19 sluice gates in Kailashahar subdivision, meant to regulate water flow in the Manu River, could not be repaired before the monsoon because of a dispute linked to the tendering process.

Officials said immediate repairs to the sluice gates and embankments along the river were now critical to protecting Kailashahar from further flooding.

The India Meteorological Department has forecast more heavy rainfall in several districts of the state, raising the possibility of fresh disruption even as relief and rehabilitation work continues.

With PTI inputs