One dead, seven families shifted to relief camps due to heavy storm in Tripura

One person was killed in an early morning lightning strike, while seven families were shifted to relief camps as heavy storm ravaged different parts of Tripura on March 30 and 31, an official said.

One person was killed in an early morning lightning strike, while seven families were shifted to relief camps as heavy storm ravaged different parts of Tripura on March 30 and 31, an official said. "A total of 800 houses suffered damages due to the inclement weather conditions which include thunderstorms, hailstorms, and rain with lightning," Secretary Revenue Department Brijesh Pandey told media persons on Monday.

According to the senior official, a total of 17 subdivisions spread in seven out of the eight total districts of the state have been affected by heavy storms. The total number of subdivisions in Tripura stands at 23. "As per the information collected from all the districts, a total of 800 houses have been damaged. Among them, 62 houses were fully damaged, 163 of them damaged partially and 577 houses were partly damaged. 42 locations were blocked due to the felling of trees, electric poles, and wires," he added.

One person died due to the lighting strike at Udaipur in the Gomati District of Tripura. The deceased person was identified as Shyamal Debnath (48). Another person also reportedly died because of lightning in Udaipur's Kakraban area but the state authorities were yet to receive a confirmation report on the matter. "Our teams are working to verify whether that person actually died because of lightning or not," Pandey told the media.

Apart from that, power supply was affected in 205 areas. According to Pandey, quick response teams swung into action to cut and remove fallen trees and restore power lines. Damage assessment teams have been sent for damage assessment. "The preliminary damage assessment was completed and interim relief to over 50 (fifty) affected families has been provided at the rate of four to five thousand rupees per family. Immediate relief assistance work will be completed within one or two days for the remaining affected families," he pointed out.

The official also informed that all the road blockades have been cleared. Out of 205 places affected due to the disruption of power lines, TSECL has already restored electric supply in most of these areas. The effort is on to restore the remaining power lines by Monday night, he added. A relief camp was opened at Teliamura RD Block to give shelter to seven families comprising 23 individuals. District Authorities of Khowai are providing immediate relief to these families.

A press statement issued by the Revenue Department further said, that after the detailed verification and damaged assessment, assistance will be provided as per the following norms of SDRF. The family of the deceased person would receive Rs 4 lakh ex gratia from the state exchequer.

For fully or severely damaged houses, Rs 1,20,000 per house in plain areas and Rs 1,30,000 per house in hilly areas will be made available for the affected families, as per the statement. For partly damaged houses, the state government will pay Rs 1,20,000-Rs 65,000 per pucca house and Rs 4,000 per kutcha house. Rs 8,000 will be provided for dismantled huts, the statement added.

"Adequate funds (SDRF) amounting to Rs 55.38 crore is made available to all district authorities for taking up immediate relief and rehabilitation measures. IMD has been providing weather forecasts and nowcasts and the same is being disseminated to common people through the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP). The State and District Emergency Operation Centres are functioning round the clock," the statement reads. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)