Cyclone ‘Remal’ triggered rains, forced 746 people take shelter in 15 relief camps: Tripura Minister

Agartala (Tripura) [India], May 29 (ANI): Tripura Transport and Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Tuesday said that heavy rains triggered by cyclone ‘Remal’ have forced a total 746 people from 246 families to take shelter in relief camps opened in different parts of the state.

According to the Minister, due to the incessant rain on Monday night, some rivers are flowing above the danger level, resulting in overflowing water that deluges low-lying areas on the banks of the river.

He said, “In the last 24 hours, the average rainfall recorded in the state has been 215.5 millimetres up to 8:30 am in the morning. This is a record. Unakoti district of Tripura received the highest rainfall, which stands at 252.4 mm, while in South Tripura district, the lowest rainfall was recorded at 168 mm.

The cyclone has crossed Bangladesh and turned into a deep depression. Right now, it is crossing the Shillong and Jowai regions of Meghalaya and gradually weakening. The state government, under the stewardship of Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, is taking all sorts of efforts to make sure that people get all sorts of help from the administration.

The Chief Secretary and DGP have held a series of meetings in this regard. All the DMs, SDMs, and officials of the line departments are working relentlessly to do the needful in challenging times.”

Stating that a total of Rs fifty crore had been allocated under the state disaster relief fund for extending relief to the people in distress, the minister said, “The total losses due to the natural calamity have not been calculated yet. An amount of Rs 50 crore had been made available with the district magistrate for compensation.

The total area of agricultural land which was inundated by the storm stands at 397 hectares out of which 1,764 farmers have been affected with an estimated production loss of 3,804 metric tons which if calculated in terms of money crosses over Rs 8 crore. This much data we have received from the districts,” he added.

According to the Minister, there is no loss of life but some people had taken shelter in the relief camps. “A total of 15 relief camps have been set up. In different areas of the state, 246 families consisting of 746 members have taken shelter in those camps. Government is providing all sorts of support including food, medicine and other essentials. Apart from that, the cycle has totally destroyed six houses while 185 dwellings received severe damage. The number of partly damaged houses is 276,” he added.

The Minister also assured that there had been no disruption in the surface transport because of the cyclone and rains. “In some parts landslides have occurred, large trees fell upon the roads which snapped connectivity for very short period of time,” he added. According to the Minister, adequate stock of petrol and essentials are available in the state.