Meghalaya’s Garo Hills hit by heavy downpour yet again:

June 9, 2020: A second wave of flood has hit Meghalaya, Garo Hill region.

Unprecedented rainfall a few weeks back had resulted in landslides. It had led to massive destruction in the regions. From bridges being washed away to several acres of paddy fields being, the West and North Garo Hills districts became the worst affected areas by this heavy downpour.

Thousands of people have been affected by the second wave of floods.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has said that the situation is serious and the government will ensure all possible relief and assistance to those affected by the flood.

However, although Chief Minister Sangma informed that the government will decide on the course of action after assessing the damage, all necessary instructions have been given to the concerned district authorities to deal with the situation.

Conrad Sangma said, “In fact in the first instance when this had happened in the first phase, we didn’t expect it to happen again but looks like the frequency is going up.

It’s been raining a lot the last few weeks and months. We visited last time and there was a lot of damage to infrastructure roads and now with the second floor, I’ve got reports on the issues from the Deputy Commissioner and other officials that it is quite bad and it has hit several households and several paddy fields have been affected.”

“We will see how to take stock of it but relief can always be provided. The district administration has been told. The funds have been released for them.” he added.

Farmers have demanded for loan waivers as the lockdown followed by the flood have destroyed crops and resulted in huge losses.

A report has already been sent to the Central government and relief will soon be arranged for and utilised once the assessment of the damages is done.