IAF rescues 14 people stranded in swollen river on Assam-Arunachal border

Itanagar/Guwahati, June 1 (IANS) Fourteen people, trapped in the swollen Bomjir river along the Assam-Arunachal border, were rescued by Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on Sunday, officials said.

A defence spokesman said that a critical humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mission was launched by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Sunday in response to a request received from the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh state administrations.

In all, 14 individuals stranded in the middle of the flooded Bomjir river in the Lower Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, cut off from main mainland, and all of them were safely rescued to a safe location. The operation was undertaken by a Mi-17 helicopter of the IAF, the spokesman said.

Sadiya Revenue Circle Officer Jaydeep Rajak oversaw the operation. All the 14 people -- 13 from Assam’s Tinsukia district and one from Arunachal Pradesh -- have been sent back home, the spokesman said.

Officials of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh thanked the IAF for its timely intervention, ensuring the safe rescue of the stranded people.

Meanwhile, the Arunachal Pradesh government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each for the next of kin of those who died in landslide-related incidents across the state over the past 48 hours.

Nine people – seven in East Kameng district and two in Lower Subansiri district– were killed on Friday night due to landslides triggered by torrential rain in the northeastern state since Thursday.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed condolences over the deaths and said necessary assistance would be provided to the affected people through the respective district administrations. Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister and local MLA Mama Natung, and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju also deeply condoled the deaths.

Seven people, including two women and two children, lost their lives on Friday night in East Kameng district when a vehicle carrying members of two families was swept off the road by a huge landslide between the Bana-Seppa stretch of National Highway-13.

In a separate incident in Lower Subansiri district, two workers were killed and two others rescued after a landslide hit a cabbage farm near the Pine Grove area along the Ziro-Kamle road.

--IANS

sc/uk