At least 40 people have died and over two lakh have been affected across the northeast after flash floods, heavy rains, and landslides triggered by Cyclone Remal over the last four days.

Incessant rain and landslides have left parts of the northeast isolated as flood waters have submerged railway tracks. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has cancelled express, passenger and goods trains bound for south Assam, Tripura, Manipur, and Mizoram since Tuesday as floodwater inundated railway tracks across the region.

On Thursday, a portion of National Highway 6 that connects Assam, Meghalaya, and Mizoram collapsed after a landslide.

Flash floods in Assam have affected thousands in nine districts as Kopili river, which flows through Assam and Meghalaya, is flowing over the danger mark. Over 35,000 people have been moved to relief camps in Assam.

In Manipur, three people have died while rescue operations are on to assist the thousands affected by the flood. The state has declared a public holiday on Friday as flood waters have entered areas in capital Imphal

In Mizoram, 27 people have died while search operations are on to locate several others missing after Tuesday’s landslides.

“So far, a total of 167 villages have been affected by the floods. Due to disruptions in communication, reports of affected families continue to trickle in from across the state. In the wake of severe landslide, triggered by incessant rain, 27 people have been found dead. Search efforts continue unabated, the death count is expected to rise,” Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma told NDTV.

The Mizoram Chief Minister announced ₹ 4 lakh compensation for the families of those killed in the calamities. He said that his government has earmarked ₹ 15 crore to tackle the disaster.

Cyclone Remal, the first major cyclone of the year, left a trail of destruction in India and Bangladesh after it made landfall on Sunday evening.

Guwahati:

A massive landslide hit an under-construction dam in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday, affecting a 2,000 megawatt (MW) hydroelectric project and reducing water flow in Assam’s Subansiri river.

Chunks of the hill came crashing down about 300 metres from the dam, showed a video that has gone viral, blocking a diversion tunnel in the Subansiri river and leading to a drastic reduction in the downstream waterflow.

This was the only diversion tunnel in use at the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project as the other four diversion tunnels had already been blocked earlier, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) said.

This comes weeks after another disaster hit the Northeast – a dam breach in Sikkim following a glacial lake outburst caused massive flash floods and several deaths.

The landslide has alarmed the authorities in Assam’s Lakhimpur district, downstream of the dam in Arunachal Pradesh.

The government has issued an advisory, asking people to restrain from activities like fishing, swimming, bathing and boating. People have also been asked to keep their cattle away from the river.

The NHPC said the river is expected to return to its usual flow by the evening. “The current river flow of 997 cubic metres per second is being stored in the reservoir, and the water level reached 139 metres by 1 pm. It is expected that the water level will reach 145 metres by the evening, and the river will return to flowing through the spillway normally,” the statement read.

A landslide had earlier blocked the four diversion tunnels and they are not currently in use. These diversion tunnels are used to redirect river water during construction.

In the past decade, the construction of the dam had faced opposition from activists and locals who feared a downstream impact.

In April last year, the powerhouse protection wall had collapsed due to tail race channel construction activities. The tail race channels, which release water back into the river after passing through turbines, are located on the right bank of the river in Arunachal Pradesh.

Over the past three years, the project site has been hit by four major landslides. The NHPC began construction of the project in January 2005, but work was stalled between 2011 and 2019 due to protests.

According to a company estimate in 2020, the cost of the project, originally scheduled to have been commissioned in 2012, had escalated to around Rs 20,000 crore from the initial Rs 6,285 crore.