Fishermen To Soldiers, Everyone Joins Hands For Rescue Ops In Flood-Hit Manipur

When fishermen in Manipur's Thanga island village in the northeast's largest freshwater lake Loktak heard about flooding in the valley areas, they quickly hauled out their row boats from the lake and loaded them on the back of a truck.

An Imphal resident told NDTV on phone the Thanga fishermen sent the boats for use by stranded residents of the flooded city, following heavy rain. Many rivers in the valley are overflowing. On a normal day, residents would have found it an odd sight to see boats being sent towards dry land in the state capital, but that was not the case today.

Local reports said there could be casualties in the flood, but officials have not confirmed the deaths. There was at least one death due to electrocution as flood water reached homes, reports said.

Officials said five districts - Imphal East, Imphal West, Kangpokpi, Senapati, and Jiribam - were badly affected, with landslides in many areas. Flood water collected in some areas of Churachandpur, with residents coordinating to help out those in need, officials said. Major roads, including the Imphal-Silchar National Highway, were also flooded and blocked by landslides.

Kangpokpi district headquarters was disconnected from nearby areas after strong currents damaged a key bridge. Flash floods hit the district headquarters on Tuesday as Cyclone Remal swept through the town, flooding many areas, mainly in the low-lying portions. One block of the district hospital comprising a laboratory, examination room, restroom, kitchen, and the emergency room was flooded. The hospital authorities had to stop services for a day.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and its state counterpart, Indian Army, Assam Rifles, police, and other state emergency services have been coordinating rescue operations.

Visuals show babies being evacuated from a hospital on floating vessels, as a queue of people submerged in neck-deep floodwater gently pushed the vessels towards dry land.

The Assam Rifles in a post on X said humanitarian assistance and disaster relief flood relief columns launched rescue and relief operation 'Jaltarang' in flood-affected areas across Imphal city.

"... Relief efforts being required at multiple locations simultaneously, the civil administration requested Indian Army and Assam Rifles for providing columns for carrying out rescue and relief operations on night of May 28... Indian Army and Assam Rifles mobilised multiple flood relief columns within an hour and carried out rescue and relief operations in Imphal city, and Khuman Lampak in Imphal East district. Over 350 people have been rescued in the ongoing relief operations," an Assam Rifles spokesperson said in a statement.

In neighbouring Mizoram, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) through the office of district collector in Aizawl requested the army to provide medical support in Melthum, where the region has been severely affected by landslides triggered by heavy rain from Cyclone Remal. The number of dead in landslides in Mizoram rose to 29, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday.

Manipur BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh in a post on X appealed to people "to overcome this together by helping each other". "Today's flood must have been the worst in the last 25-30 years. In my 12 years as a legislator, I haven't seen this kind of flooding within the Greater Imphal areas... Let's stay vigilant and stay safe and contact me or my office for any emergency," Mr Singh said.

The floods have added more hardships to the border state that is yet to recover from ethnic tensions with nearly 50,000, including children and the elderly, still living in relief camps.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh thanked the NDRF, army and the Assam Rifles for their help. "... I urge all to extend cooperation to the rescue teams as they perform their duties to ensure everyone's safety," he said in a post on X. He offered condolences to the families of people killed in Mizoram due to the cyclone. "... My sincere condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives in the incident and praying for the speedy recovery of those injured..." the Chief Minister said.

More NDRF personnel landed in Imphal airport tonight to join the rescue operations. Earlier today, the NDRF said its '12 Battalion' along with local agencies rescued 88 people including two infants from flooded homes.

The European Union (EU) today announced an aid package worth over Rs 2.26 crore to help people hit by hailstorm and heavy rain in the state in early May. The EU said the aid will be delivered by its humanitarian partner ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency), and it will benefit more than 1,500 most vulnerable families.