Shillong, Nov 2: The work on restoration of heavily damaged infrastructure in Garo Hills in the recent floods and landslides has been going on and is far from complete.
Power is one of the biggest sectors that sustained substantial damage in the nature’s fury that struck the region nearly a month ago.
Initial observations suggest significant losses to the power utilities, but the state government is yet to complete a full assessment of the extensive damage.
“We are assessing the damages, and while we’ve nearly restored power in most areas, a planned inauguration for a substation on November 8 has been delayed,” said power minister AT Mondal.
Inauguration of the transmission line, part of which was washed away, will take place after the Gambegre bye-election slated for November 13.
Informing that loss assessments are under way in West Garo Hills, the minister said, “In South Garo Hills, part of the utility falls under Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) while another portion is managed by a distribution franchise.”
“We are working to get compile a complete picture of the impact,” he said.
Explaining the magnitude of the disaster, he said, “Entire bridges were washed away towards Bangladesh. It wasn’t just riverbank homes that were affected… people in the Dalu area said they had not seen such intense rainfall and flooding in their lifetime.”
A large-scale relief and rescue operation was carried out by various agencies to aid the affected people and restore communication in the region.
Altogether 17 people lost their lives as a result of the heavy rains and subsequent flooding in Garo Hills. While 15 deaths were directly related to the natural calamity, two minors drowned in an under-construction tank filled with rainwater.
