A total of 246 villages have been badly affected by the recent floods and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall in Garo Hills and 6,51,083 people have been affected.
“I can say, it is one of the worst situations that we faced,” Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Kyrmen Shylla told media persons here today.
Stating that 15 people died in the calamity, he also informed that six were injured. He also said that payment of compensation to the next of kin of the deceased has been completed.
According to Shylla, 347 houses in 246 villages were damaged by the recent floods and landslides.
In West Garo Hills, 132 villages have been affected, 93 houses damaged, five persons dead and three injured.
In South Garo Hills, 79 villages have been affected, 244 houses damaged and seven people lost their lives.
In East Garo Hills, 12 villages were affected and one house was damaged. Three people died and three were injured.
In North Garo Hills, three villages have been affected. In South West Garo Hills, 15 villages have been affected and eight houses damaged.
One relief camp has been set up in South Garo Hills and 68 others set up in West Garo Hills.
The minister also said that the calamity also had an impact in two districts of Khasi Hills region.
He informed that in Eastern West Khasi Hills, four villages have been affected while in East Khasi Hills, one village has been affected and one house was damaged.
Stating that he has not seen such tragedy in his tenure, Shylla said, “We have seen floods from time to time. Every year we have witnessed but the loss of lives this time has risen up to 15. It is really sad. As a government in collaboration with other departments we are trying to reach out to all the deceased families.”
He also expressed gratitude towards Chief Minister Conrad Sangma who has been visiting the affected areas and said that the chief minister has worked tirelessly to see that the missing bodies are retrieved.
Asked if the State government will look into rebuilding the damaged houses, Shylla said that the authorities will see what can be done from but the priority now is to evacuate all the affected people and provide relief to them.
On mapping of landslide prone areas, the minister said, “Actually this (landslide) is unpredicted. We cannot predict what is going to happen next. We have seen that the rain is quite high this time so we have tried our best. The government as a whole and line departments have tried their best to tackle but this kind of situation is quite tough.”
