AIZAWL, June 15 - At least 1,066 families have so far been evacuated to safer places due to floods, Mizoram Disaster Management and Rehabilitation department officials said today.
The officials stated that the worst-hit areas are Tlabung town of Lunglei district in south Mizoram and its surrounding villages like Lamthai, Tipperaghat and Serhuan where 700 families were shifted to safer places after their homes were inundated by the Chhimtuipui river along the Mizoram-Bangladesh border.
The Bairabi town and surrounding villages along the Tlawng river in Kolasib district and Aizawl district, including Bawrai, Sairang and Kanhmun villages, were also submerged, leaving over 140 families displaced.
Cracks appeared in Bunghmun village in Lunglei district after which 30 families were shifted to safer places.
Heavy rainfall continued to lash the State last night and this morning which triggered another massive landslide at Ramlaitui village in Lunglei district which blocked the Aizawl-Lunglei via the Thenzawl Highway.
The Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, K Lalsawmvela, said that excavators were used to clear the debris while the National Highway 54, which was swept away by a landslide near Serchhip town in central Mizoram yesterday, remains unrepaired.
Lalsawmvela said that it would take days, if not months, to restore the National Highway as the whole hillock collapsed pulling down around 100 metres of the highway.
Many families were also shifted to safer places in Aizawl city and other places due to landslides and mudslips as their homes were in danger of being swept away, while some houses had to be dismantled. � PTI
