Tripura flood: Death toll rises to 31, central team to arrive on Wednesday

Five more people died in the flood in Tripura taking the total death toll to 31, said an official on Tuesday.

An inter-ministerial team led by Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs B C Joshi will be reaching the state on Wednesday to assess the loss caused by the deluge, Chief Minister Manik Saha said.

As many as 72,000 people are still in 492 relief camps as their houses were washed away in the floods, Secretary of Revenue Department Birjesh Pandey told a press conference.

He said five NDRF and six SDRF teams are engaged in relief works mostly in Gomati and South Tripura districts, two worst flood-affected districts of the northeastern state.

"Altogether 31 people died in the floods while two others are missing during the devastating floods from August 19 to 23," he said.

Chief Minister Manik Saha later held a meeting with senior officials to review the flood situation.

Saha said, "There must be an effort to present the true picture of devastation due to the floods before the Central team. The floods have caused a loss of Rs. 15,000 crore. However, it may go up after the final assessment."

Saha also underlined the need to highlight the loss in sectors like health, roads, drinking water, agriculture, horticulture, power and irrigation.