Union Minister of State for Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER) and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Dr. Jitendra Singh and Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju visited the flood-affected areas of Manipur yesterday. The Central team along with local Ministers, MLAs and State officials carried out an aerial survey of the worst-affected village Joumol in Chandel district where a massive landslide had taken place on August 1, 2015. They also conducted aerial survey of the flood affected areas of Thoubal district and nearby areas.After returning at Imphal Airport, Dr Jitendra Singh and Shri Kiren Rijiju interacted with the team of the National Disiaster Response Force (NDRF) which had carried out the search and rescue operation. NDRF Team Commander gave detailed briefing to the Ministers about the conduct of the search and rescue operation by the team. As per NDRF, in the village Joumol, total 19 villagers were affected by the landslide, out of which 10 persons survived and 9 were swept aside. Out of 9 missing, 4 bodies were recovered by the NDRF Team and 5 could not be retrieved as the victims were buried under 50-60 feet of slush & debris. Due to hilly terrain, it was not possible to make use of any earthmover machines.
The Central team later held a meeting with the top State Government officials and interacted with the local media. The Chief Secretary submitted the preliminary damage report. During the meeting, both the Ministers conveyed the condolences on behalf of the Prime Minister for the bereaved families who had lost their family members. They also conveyed Prime Minister’s sympathies to those who had suffered economic loss due to flood. It was reported that 75% population of Thoubal district has been affected. There have been heavy losses to the paddy fields as well as fishery farms.During the visit, both the Ministers had telephonic conversation with the Chief Minister of Manipur over the flood situation in the State and assured him to provide full support from the Central Government.