ITANAGAR, July 10 ? The flood situation in Arunachal Pradesh continued to be grim today with all the rivers rising alarmingly and crossing the danger level following continuous downpour during the last few days, reports PTI. Teju, the district headquarters of Lohit, remained cut off from the rest of the country for the second day today.Lohit Deputy Commissioner P S Lokhande told PTI that at least 40,000 people were affected by the flash floods in Piyiong, Namchai, Chowkham, Sonpur, Mahadevpur and Teju circles of the district following swelling of Noa Dihing, Digaru and Derrang rivers.
While 14 villages under Piyiong circle were submerged in the flash floods, about ten villages were reeling under water at Mahadevpur. The main road between Mahadevpur and Namchai was washed away in many places, Lokhande said. Country boats, elephants and machine boats were pressed into service to evacuate the affected people to safer places. Helicopters could not be used due to inclement weather, Lokhande said.
Flood monitoring cells have been set up in every circle headquarter to monitor the situation on a round-the-clock basis, the Deputy Commissioner said. Power and water supply was badly hit in the district headquarter town of Tezu. There was no power in Tezu as the power channel was washed away by flood waters. Clean drinking water was also not available to the residents, Lokhande said.