GUWAHATI, July 16 ? Fear has gripped the city dwellers living in the hilly areas following Thursday night?s landslides in which 13 people were killed and several more injured. Many people have abandoned their houses on the hills and are now taking shelter in alternative accommodations including the ten relief camps set up by the district administration. Around 1,500 people have already taken refuge at the relief camps. Apart from those whose houses have been destroyed by landslides, the camp inmates also include a number of persons who have left their houses, fearing another occurrence of landslides. Some families are staying at hotels and at their relatives? houses.
The ten camps opened so far are: Vocational Training Centre, Birubari, Khadi and Village Industries Centre, Rupnagar, Vivekananda ME School, Kalapahar, Mahatma Gandhi Buniyadi LP School, Fatasil Ambari, Freedom Fighters? Association building, Rupnagar, Rashtrabhasha School and Shiva Mandir, Rupnagar, Pragati Pathsala, Santipur, Arabinda Bidyamandir High School and Janajatiya MV School, Birubari, Bishnu Mandir, Fatasil, and Dharanidhar LP School, Santipur.
The district administration has also opened a control room with phone number 2601616 to deal with the post-landslide situation. Meanwhile, the body of Anil Lahkar who was feared killed at Fatasil Ambari, could not be recovered till filing of this report. Kamrup (Metropolitan) Deputy Commissioner AK Absar Hazarika told The Assam Tribune that administration was geared up to meet any emergency situation caused by landslides. ?We have so far opened ten relief camps at different locations for landslide victims but that may be increased if the situation demands,? he said.
Sources in the MET office said that the present weather phenomenon over Guwahati and adjoining areas was due to a low-pressure system that had developed over the Orissa coast on July 14 and 15. It has moved inland and was over Jharkhand and adjoining areas of Orissa, and Gangetic West Bengal at 8-30 am. Today a trough is extending in northwesterly direction up to west Arunachal Pradesh. In this situation, rains can be expected at many places in this region within the next 24 hours, he said.
Meanwhile, incessant rains have compounded the woes of the residents of the city whose lives have already been affected by waterlogged streets and localities, choked drains, and accumulating garbage at various places. In a desperate attempt, the district administration pressed into service country boats in Anil Nagar area for carrying distressed residents. Irregular services of ferries and motorised country boats on the Brahmaputra have further aggravated the communication problem for scores of inhabitants of North Guwahati. In absence of their lifeline to Guwahati, the people are finding it tough to commute to the city. The Bharalu continues to flow above the Brahmaputra at 49.79 metres. The Brahmaputra is flowing at 49.74 metres. Four pumps are being used to rid the Bharalu of its excess water.