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Floods, landslides in India's Tripura displace 10s of thousands

Soldiers in lifeboats ferried individuals to safety on Friday in India's northeastern state of Tripura after heavy rain triggered floods and landslides, forcing more than 65,000 people from their homes and eliminating 23, authorities stated.

Television images showed army personnel manning the rescue craft, while vehicles and buses were marooned in streets of knee-deep water, and disaster management officials said four days of constant rain had swelled rivers.

As of this morning, many rivers are streaming below the important mark, said one of them, Suman Deb, although the intensity of the rain had actually minimized given that Thursday night.

However, the river Gomti still continues to stream above the threat mark, Deborah stated, referring to the state's primary river, which streams through the district of Comilla in neighbouring Bangladesh to clear into the Bay of Bengal.

The displaced have actually gathered in 450 camps, the authorities said, with a total of about 1.7 million affected, along with comprehensive damage to infrastructure, crops and livestock.

A lot of deaths were caused by landslides though some followed the collapse of mud walls and drowning, another catastrophe management official stated on condition of privacy as he was not authorised to talk to the media.

The Indian Army stated more than 80 of its personnel took part rescue efforts, bringing to security 334 individuals stranded by increasing floodwaters.

In Bangladesh, the Gomti broke through an embankment late on Thursday, swamping at least 15 towns and displacing numerous households, authorities and witnesses stated.

In the capital, Dhaka, some individuals alleged this week that the floods were caused by the opening of dam sluice gates in India, an assertion New Delhi has actually turned down.

It was not remedy that the floods were caused by water released from Tripura's Dumbur dam on the Gomti, the foreign ministry said.

Blocked roadways in a number of districts of Bangladesh separated people and hindered rescue and relief efforts, officials said.

Strong currents of floodwater gushed through the districts of Feni, Moulvibazar and Noakhali where roadways were swamped and ropes utilized to pull stranded individuals to safety, television videos revealed.

I have actually never seen such a flood in my life time, said Noakhali resident Mohammad Alam.

More than 75,000 individuals were taken to over 1,500 shelters in the flood-hit districts, with military and border guards assisting in the rescue, authorities stated.

(source: Reuters)