Tura: Strong winds in the wake of Cyclone Sitrang have left a path of destruction, in the form of downed power lines and fallen trees in Tura in West Garo Hills.
The streets of Tura town were on Monday night littered with snapped power lines and fallen trees in many localities disrupting power and blocking traffic for a couple of hours. While fallen trees and other debris on the roads were cleared by Tuesday afternoon to allow normal movement of traffic, electricity, which snapped around mid-afternoon on Monday, is yet to return.
While other districts were partially affected by the strong winds, West Garo Hills bore the brunt of the cyclone’s fury. The 3 national highways, which saw many trees falling on the roadside were cleared by the PWD of the various districts allowing for normal travel to take place.
With the amount of damage that has been done to power lines, it is unlikely that the concerned department will be able to return power to the town any time soon. Snapped power lines continue to lie strewn all over the streets of the town as well as partially uprooted poles at several localities, which will prove a challenge for those in the power department.
With network and electricity all but out, reports of damages have been slow to come. However, in some places around Tura, especially Sansanggre, many houses were destroyed. Residents who lost their homes have been seeking shelter in other places though no communication could be made with them due to the situation.
The matter of their being temporarily homeless was communicated to the Deputy Commissioner of WGH, Swapnil Tembe. He said efforts were on to make contact with them so that they could be put up in the temporary shelters set up by the Tura Municipal Board.
Earlier, the DC informed that teams from the MeECL, PWD, Forest and Disaster Management were all on the job to restore power and road connectivity after the intense spell of winds and rains. Tembe added that assessment of damages is also being done by field staff and that the extent of damages would be made known after receipt of reports. Efforts though have been hampered by poor communication that has affected all including those making the assessments.
Early reports from the DC showed that the Tura Urban area, Rongram and the Gambegre C&RD Block were the worst affected. An initial assessment showed that at least 10 localities in Tura, 12 in Gambegre and another 6 in the Rongram C&RD Block were being affected.
The administration also informed that in these affected areas, 36 households in Tura with a population of 211, 36 households with 193 people in Gambegre. No data on the numbers affected in Rongram were available. No deaths have been reported so far.
The numbers are expected to rise further once communication is brought back up, expectedly by tomorrow.
The effect of the cyclone was also felt in the rest of Northeast India. In Manipur’s Ukhrul district, two women were killed after they were reportedly washed away while returning from paddy fields on Monday evening
The week-long first edition of the Northeast Autumn Festival (NEAF) in the Ukhrul district has been cancelled following Cyclone Sitrang wreaking havoc across the state.
Along with Tripura, Manipur, especially the Noney district, has also faced the brunt of Cyclone Sitrang. At least 20 households in the region were destroyed, and several villages, including Puichi (Oktan) and Pungmon (Chingchen) villages in the Haochong sub-division, suffered extensive devastation.
In Mizoram, all schools in Aizawl and Lunglei districts in the southern part of the state remained shut on Tuesday given Cyclone Sitrang.
Earlier, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert indicating heavy to very heavy and extremely heavy rainfall for Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura
Also Read | Meghalaya: East Khasi Hills DC warns of action against service charge violators