MIZORAM has reported five deaths in the current wave of landslides, house collapse and other calamities triggered by heavy rains in the last 10 days, the State’s Disaster Management and Rehabilitationdepartmentsaid on Tuesday. Data shared by the departmentsaidthatthreepeopledied in Champhai district and one each in Aizawl and Serchhip districtsduetocollapseofhousesandwallscausedbylandslides and flash floods. The State also reported 552 landslides at several places, while152houseshavecollapsed or have been damaged due to rain during the same period, it said.One hundred and ninetyeight families have abandoned their houses due to landslides or fissures and 92 others evacuatedtheirhomesduetofloods, it said. Of the total 11 districts, east Mizoram’s Champhai district, which shares a border with Myanmar, faced the brunt of thecurrentmonsoonreporting three deaths, 209 landslides, 9 housedamagesandevacuation of 14 families, it said.

 

Serchhipdistrictreportedone fatality, 75 landslides, 27 house damagesand132familiesabandonedtheirhousesduetolandslides, fissures and floods, the data said. Eighteen landslides were reportedinAizawldistrict,while 13 houses have collapsed or havebeendamagedand17others have been abandoned, it said. Khawzawl district reported 75 landslides, Lunglei district (60) and southMizoram’s Siaha district reported 53 landslides, it said. At least 29 houses collapsed or were damaged in Siaha district, 23 in Kolasib district, 18 in Lunglei district and 9 in Khawzawldistrict,thedatasaid. 34PEOPLEEVACUATEDFROM LANDSLIDEHITCHHATENBY HELICOPTERS:THIRTY-FOUR people were evacuated from landslide hit Chhaten in North SikkimonTuesday,officialssaid. Two MI-17 V5 helicopters completedthe evacuation mission landing safely at Pakyong Airport near here with 34 people on board, officials said. Among those rescued were injured army personnel currently undergoing medical treatment,theirfamilymembers and tourists stranded in the area, they added. Earlier,ateamof23NDRFpersonnelwere rushed to Chhaten in North Sikkim from here on helicopter on Tuesday for rescue and search operations for sixsoldiersmissingafteralandslidehitanarmy camp,officials said.Threearmypersonnelwere killedandsixsoldierswentmissing after a landslide hit a militarycampatChhaten.

 

Thelandslide, which occurred at 7 pm on Sunday near Lachen town in Mangan district, was triggered by heavy rainfall in the area. “... A catastrophic landslide occurred following intense and continuousrainfallintheregion causingthedeathofthreecombatants, identified as Havaldar Lakhwinder Singh, Lance Naik Munish Thakur, and Porter Abhishek Lakhada,” an official statement said. Bodies of the personnel have beenrecovered, while four other soldiers were rescued with minor injuries, the official said in a statement. The NDRF team will aid in evacuation, rescue and the establishment of temporary communication lines.

 

SCHOOLS IN 10 MIZORAM DISTRICTS REMAIN SHUT DUE TO RAIN: ALL SCHOOLS in 10 districts of Mizoram remained closed for the fourth day on Tuesday due to heavy rain that triggered landslides, mud-flows,androckfallsindifferentpartsoftheState,officials said. They said that all district administrationsbarringSaitual declared the closure of schools on Tuesday as a precautionary measure for the safety of students due to continuous rainfall. A notification issued by Aizawl deputy commissioner and district disaster management authority chairman Lalhriatpuiasaidthatallschools within Aizawl district are advised to suspend attendance ofschoolstudentstoensurethe safetyandwell-beingofthestudents on June 3. State capital Aizawl experiencedheavyrainfallonTuesday morning. Earlier, all schools acrosstheStatewerecloseddue to rain for three days on May 29, 30 and June 2. Saitual deputy commissioner Lalngura Tlau told PTI that schools were opened on Tuesday within the district following improvement in the weather. Unlike other districts, the calamities caused by monsoon are negligible and did not pose great danger in the district, he said.

 

The current wave of landslides, floods and other calamities triggered by heavy rains acrossMizoramhasclaimedthe lives of five people, including threeMyanmarese refugees, so far. Mizoram has been experiencing incessant rains since May 24 and heavy downpour from May 30 leaving a trail of destruction at several places. Intra-State, inter-localities roads and highways have been blocked in 190 locations due to landslides, over 200 families evacuated due to floods and cracks causedby rain and more than190houseshavecollapsed or have been damaged in the current monsoon, according to stateDisasterManagementand Rehabilitation department. ARUNACHAL FLOOD TOLL RISES TO 11 AS LABOURER DIES INWALLCOLLAPSE, 938 AFFECTED IN 23 DISTRICTS: THE death toll in floods and landslides triggered by relentless rain in Arunachal Pradesh has increased to 11 as a labourer died in a wall collapse incident in Anjaw district, officials said on Tuesday. According to a State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) statement, while 38- year-old Bhaben Murmu died when a wall collapsed during a landslide onJune 1, three GREF workerswereinjuredintheincident. A total of 938 people are now affected by floods in 156 villages in 23 districts, it said. Lower Subansiri district reported significant damage, includingthedestructionof114 kutcha houses, 45 pucca houses, and nine huts. The district has also seen serious infrastructure losses, including the damage of 51 roads, 17 power lines, 23 water supply lines and two schools, officials said. Widespread destruction has also been reported in the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) and Pakke Kessang, where key assets such as ICR’smain water pipeline and the road at Dariya Hill have been severely affected.