TURA:
The Indian Air Force has been unsuccessful in airdropping relief materials including food to stranded villagers in the Siju-Maheskola region of South Garo Hills due to inclement weather on Tuesday.
However, a trial landing of the chopper in another sector of Maheskola that falls inside the border of South West Khasi Hills district resulted in the air force team handing over 100 kgs of relief materials to villagers in the afternoon.
The first helicopter sortie of the air force in the morning had turned out unsuccessful after the pilots encountered heavy rain and thick cloud cover across the skies over Maheskola forcing them to turn back.
They made a second attempt in the afternoon and were successful in landing the craft on the other side of the inter-district border. However, due to time constraints, the entire operation had to be called off for the day and the team decided to hand over the consignment to the villagers before taking off for Guwahati.
Another airdrop attempt is to be conducted on Wednesday.
The air force had planned several sorties to deliver emergency food aid to seven cut-off areas of the district which have lost near-total communication with the rest of the state for five long days following flash floods triggered by incessant rains on June 17th that took the lives of eight people in the district.
The air force was to land relief materials at Siju and Maheskola and then conduct an airdrop of the food aid to badly hit Mahadeo, Kanai, Bonbera, Rongsu Agal and Kalu Songmong. A chopper with food rations was to also land at Siju and Maheskola on the same day.
INHABITANTS REMAIN CUT OFF
Over 40,000 inhabitants residing in the Siju-Maheskola region have remained cut off from all network and road communication links following the June 17Â flash floods that were triggered by torrential rain, it was informed during a high level review meeting in Baghmara that was attended by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday.
The road communication through National Highway – 62 has been completely cut off for the past four days affecting hundreds of villages in the region.
The flash floods have caused multiple landslides all over Maheskola and Siju effectively cutting off the entire road link.
Officials told the chief minister in Baghmara that six bridges, including suspension and wooden, had been washed away in the district with mobile and electricity connection disrupted. Electricity connection has been disrupted in Baghmara town, Karukol, Rongsa Awe, Siju, Rongara, Gasuapara, Chokpot, amongst other villages.
Eight people have lost their lives in landslides at Bolsalgre, Siju and Rongsa Awe, of which one is a minor aged 4 years and two persons are still missing from Rongsa Awe.
The chief minister will be meeting the families of the victims on Wednesday and an ex-gratia of Rs 4 Lakh each for a person deceased in the family would be released during the visit.
The chief minister has decided to travel to badly damaged Siju region, once the most famous tourist destination in Garo Hills which has now been ravaged by flash floods and landslides damaging the historical Siju bat caves as well.
The chief minister will be traveling to Siju from Karukol in a boat, a journey that will take at least 2.5 hours and then trek for 6 km to reach the families at Siju and Rongsa Awe, it was informed.
A total of 30 villages including Siju, Emangre, Jadi, Nongalbibra, Karukol, Maheskola, Kalu, Kanai, Bonbera, Rongru Asim has been cut off from the district headquarter of Baghmara. The chief minister has directed the officials that restoration of roads and electricity should continue.
Officials have informed that in the next 2-3 days, the road connectivity along NH-62 will be restored for light motor vehicles and at least 20-25 days would be required for roads to be restored for heavy vehicular movement.
Earlier in the day, the chief minister visited affected areas under Dalu block in West Garo Hills and reviewed the situation with officials of the district. In Dalu area, at least 5 wooden bridges have been damaged disrupting communication in several villages and soil erosion affecting villages along the Balka river.