Nagaland floods: State awaits Centre’s assistance; Phek, Kiphire present reports to central team

Crippled by floods and landslides for more than a month, the northeastern state of Nagaland awaits financial assistance from the Centre for the restoration of the damages caused by the monsoon fury and so far, two rain-hit districts had submitted reports of the damages and the fund required to return to normalcy to the central team.

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Nagaland has been battling floods and landslides caused by the continuous rainfall since July 26, in which at least 12 people have lost their lives and more than 3000 families have lost their home in around 400 villages.

On Friday, the district administrations of Phek and Kiphire, the worst affected districts of month-long rain in Nagaland till mid-August, presented reports to a central team during debriefing of a five-member inter-ministerial central team in Kohima, according to official sources.

Officials said that the reports from other districts were yet to come.

Phek district Deputy Commissioner Orenthung, in a consolidated report of damages, stated that a sum of Rs 416.06 lakh was required to repair damages of infrastructure, while it need Rs 281.34 lakh to rebuild agricultural, animal husbandry and fisheries sector.

Orenthung stated that no relief had been received by the district, while two sorties have been made by IAF chopper for supply of essential commodities to Phokhungri and Wuzu villages under Meluri sub-division and added that the district administration and District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) extended immediate relief of Rs 10,000 each for severely damaged houses and Rs 5000 each for partially damaged houses.

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Kiphire district Deputy Commissioner and DDMA Chairman Md Ali Shihab sought immediate attention of the Central government for repair of the National Highway and village roads.

Shihab stated that Kiphire remained cut-off from all sides due to landslides for over a month, adding the district is facing acute shortage of rice.

“The main NH-202 connecting Kiphire to Kohima and Tuensang districts remained cut-off at various locations since July 29 last due to torrential rain with major affected areas being Meluri in Phek district and Yei bridge in Tuensang district. Due to the bad road conditions, normal supply of essential commodities from Dimapur has been affected severely and the district is facing acute shortage of rice,” Shihab stated.

“Kiphire district has around 110 villages and the DDMA is not able to reach maximum villages with relief material due to bad weather condition and damaged roads,” Shihab added.

The five-member Inter-ministerial central team, led by Joint Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs K B Singh, conducted on-the-spot assessment of the monsoon damages in the state from September 4 to 7.

(With inputs from agencies)