People living near Arunachal Pradesh’s Siang river moved to safer places amid flood alert

After China alerted India on possible flash floods in Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border areas, people residing along the banks of Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh have been moved to safety.
China on Wednesday alerted India about possible flash floods in the area due to formation of an artificial lake in Tibet following a landslide, officials said Saturday.  

The first rush of water reached Pasihgat, the headquarters of East Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh, at around 7.30 am Saturday, said Water Resources department, superintending engineer (Hqs), Getom Borang. He told PTI over phone that the water flow was under control and below the danger level at 11 am.

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Meanwhile, the National Disaster Response Force (NERF) team has arrived and East Siang district Deputy Commissioner Duly Kamduk and officials of the Water Resources department are constantly monitoring the flow of the Siang river, officials said.

Arunchal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Minister Alo Libang, who is also the MLA of Yingkiong constituency in East Siang district, said the water level of the Siang river had risen at around 11 pm Friday night, but started receding after some time. The officials were constantly monitoring the water level of the river, he said.

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Chinese Embassy spokesperson Counselor Ji Rong had said that his country had activated the ‘Emergency Information Sharing Mechanism’ with India following the landslide on Wednesdaymorning near Jiala village in Milin County in the lower ranges of Yaluzangbu river in Tibet.

Ji said the Hydrological Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region has begun to share with the Indian side hydrological information every hour, such as the water level and flow rate at the Nuxia hydrological station and the temporary hydrological station downstream of the barrier lake.
The Yaluzangbu river in Arunachal Pradesh region is called Siang and Brahmaputra in Assam.