The water came down from the hills with terrifying force in Arunachal Pradesh's Kee Panyor district on Wednesday morning. Torrential rain over the Yazali area triggered a sudden flash flood that swallowed settlements in mud and water within minutes. Several houses collapsed in and around the NEEPCO colony at Poza, while the bridge on the main highway was swept clean away by the raging current.
Early information points to three people missing and around 20 houses completely destroyed in the disaster. The worst hit were the NEEPCO quarters, where roughly 20 units were reduced to rubble.
Three hours of rain that changed everything
According to local authorities, the Yazali station in Lower Subansiri recorded 72.8 mm of rain over the past 24 hours. The weather department says heavy rain fell between 6 am and 9 am on Wednesday, but the real fury struck between 6 am and 7:30 am. That hour and a half of extremely intense rainfall pushed water levels in the upper catchment areas up so fast that the settlements below had no time to react.
This surging flow created flash flood conditions around the Panyor Lower Hydroelectric Project, the same plant earlier known as the Ranganadi Hydroelectric Project. To cope with the suddenly rising water, the project management had to open one spillway gate to release the extra water. Accounts from Yazali and nearby areas say the flood arrived with a fast-moving torrent of debris, causing heavy damage to homes, roads and other infrastructure.
The threat now shifts to Assam
The fallout from the situation in Arunachal is now expected to reach the lower-lying parts of Assam. The Assam government has warned that the heavy rain in Lower Subansiri and the upper catchment could rapidly raise the levels of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. The first impact could be felt in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath and Sonitpur districts, after which the flood wave may travel through other districts and reach Dhubri within the next one to two days.
High alert on Himanta Biswa Sarma's orders
On the directions of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Assam government has issued a high alert. The Chief Secretary has instructed all concerned departments and district administrations to maintain maximum vigilance, keep a constant watch on river levels and ensure relief and rescue preparations are in place well in time. Teams from the SDRF, NDRF and other disaster relief agencies have been kept ready for deployment. The administration has appealed to people living in low-lying and flood-prone areas to stay alert, move to safe places if needed, and avoid travelling in small boats on the Brahmaputra and other rivers.
