IMPHAL, July 13 - A five member Central team led by Joint Secretary (Admin) Prakash of Ministry of Home Affairs arrived here on Thursday to take stock of the flood crisis in Manipur.
Soon after arriving here, the visiting Central team, which includes officials from Ministries of Agriculture, Finance, Rural Development and Transport, visited the flood affected areas in Imphal East district. The team was accompanied by Principal Secretary (Relief and Disaster Management) MH Khan and senior officials of the district.
They also visited flood-hit villages under Imphal West district to assess the ground situation and prepare a report prior to arrival of Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, who is currently visiting flood-affected areas in Assam. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already expressed his anguish over the situation arising due to floods in various parts of the North East.
Meanwhile, more villages and farmlands have been submerged in Imphal West, Thoubal and Bishnupur districts after Imphal, Thoubal and other rivers breached dykes and inundated vast areas in Wangoi Khaidem, Thoubal Khekman and Kumbi since Wednesday night.
Several government offices and quarters including those of RIMS doctors have been inundated by flood waters. Central and State institutions such as National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology, National Institute of Technology, Regional Centre of Organic Farming, Indian Council for Agricultural Research, State offices in Porompat, Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development and State Science Centre are still under water.
Manipur has witnessed 1426.4 mm of rainfall as on July 13 against last year�s record of 1852.4 mm, according to ICAR. About 40,000 hectares of agricultural land have been affected by floods.
