By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: Search and rescue operations intensified in Arunachal Pradesh’s Keyi Panyor district on Thursday, with an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel and police teams deployed to trace four people who went missing after flash floods triggered by incessant rainfall a day earlier.
Authorities are also working to restore road connectivity across the flood-ravaged district, where debris, sludge and landslides have blocked several key routes and disrupted normal life.
According to the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Thursday’s operations are focused on locating the four missing persons while clearing roads obstructed by mud and boulders. Two excavators have been deployed to clear the route towards Potin.
State Disaster Management Secretary Dani Sulu said rescue operations resumed early on Thursday despite difficult terrain and blocked roads. An IAF helicopter has been deployed to airlift additional SDRF personnel and rescue equipment to the Pitapool area to strengthen the ongoing search efforts.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is clearing roads from the Kimin side, while restoration work on the highway is also underway from the Hoj side.
The state Home Department said continuous rainfall and landslides have blocked several major roads in Keyi Panyor and Papum Pare districts, including the Sagalee-Hoj route, Pitapool-Toru Road, Pitapool-Hoj Road and multiple stretches of the Kimin Bypass.
Authorities have advised commuters to avoid the affected routes until connectivity is restored.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed anguish over the devastation caused by the flash flood and assured affected families of the state government’s full support. He said all concerned agencies had been fully mobilised and were actively engaged in rescue and relief operations, adding that the government was closely monitoring the situation and making every effort to provide rescue, relief and medical assistance.
The flash flood struck the NEEPCO Colony area at Poosa in Keyi Panyor district on Wednesday morning, damaging houses, severing road links and triggering landslides at multiple locations.
Preliminary assessments indicate that around 18 residential units in and around the NEEPCO Colony were damaged. The body of a 35-year-old woman was recovered on Wednesday, while 17 others sustained injuries.
Personnel from the district administration, police, SDRF, NEEPCO, ex-servicemen and local volunteers remain engaged in the rescue operation.
Meanwhile, six districts — Keyi Panyor, Kra Daadi, Kurung Kumey, Lower Subansiri, Kamle and Upper Subansiri, remain cut off from the rest of the state due to heavy rainfall.
Landslides have also been reported along the Itanagar-Hoj-Yazali stretch of National Highway-13, further hampering rescue efforts and movement across the region.