Incessant rains batter Garo Hills

    24-May-2020
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Newmai News Network
Tura, May 24: Many sections of Garo Hills in Meghalaya are now disconnected from other parts of the State after incessant rains led to many sections of roads in the area being washed away.
Rains have continued for the fourth day since the super cyclone Amphan made landfall a few days ago. While the rains relented in the first two days, since the evening of the May 23, there has been no let up leading to a copious increase in the amounts of water.
The damage to many parts of the Garo Hills region began this morning with continued rains leading to farmlands being submerged in quite a few sections of the plain belt of West Garo Hills and in North Garo Hills district.
An updated report on Sunday evening showed that one of the bridges connecting Raksamgre to Tikrikilla in West Garo Hills along with another section of the same road was washed away in the rains. This afternoon, a bridge on the AMPT road, one of the most important ones for inter-state connectivity, was also washed away, bringing vehicular traffic to a stop.
The continuing rain has also led to all rivers to run in spate including the Manda and Damring Rivers in North Garo Hills. The Ringgi River in West Garo Hills, one of the main tributaries of the Brahmaputra was also in spate, though the Brahmaputra was flowing below danger levels.
By contrast, East, South and South West Garo Hills remained relatively calm with no major incidents reported from the three districts.
“There have been a few reports of trees being uprooted but no major damage was reported,” said Deputy Commissioner (DC) of East Garo Hills district, Swapnil Tembe on Sunday.
In North Garo Hills district, the Dingok bridge, close to Bajengdoba was damaged by the persistent rains though an assessment of damage to houses, property and agricultural lands will only be available on Monday.
“Assessment of the damage is being done and will be provided tomorrow. Rains have been persistent,” said the DC of North Garo Hills district, SC Sadhu.
West Garo Hills reported inundation in quite a few places, with many houses, roads and agricultural lands being submerged by the rising waters.
A major worry for the administration now is the unwillingness of people to move from their houses despite the dangers posed by rising waters.
The town of Tikrikilla and its adjoining areas remained inundated for the entire day as the rains persisted. “Two bridges, two schools and various villages have been affected. The affected villagers are being evacuated. We are trying to convince people to move out. Information on damage to the bridges and roads has been relayed to the concerned department and assessment is currently on,” said the DC of West Garo Hills district, Ram Singh.