Flood situation in Manipur still grim in valley districts

IMPHAL — The flood situation in Manipur remains grim, with valley districts, including Imphal East, Thoubal, and Imphal West, still inundated by water on Thursday.

The situation has worsened due to a recent breach in the Imphal River's embankment at Wangoi, causing widespread flooding in nearby agricultural fields and fish farms, specifically, areas such as Wangoi, Yumnam Huidrom, and Mayang Imphal.

In Senapati and Ukhrul districts, incessant rainfall over the past few days triggered landslides, disturbing normal traffic in some locations.  

A man monitoring his fish farm in Mayang Imphal Chirai, Imphal West district, has gone missing, prompting search operations. The incident comes three days after a 70-year-old man from Kshetri Awang Leikai in Imphal East district fell into the Iril River and remains untraced. Authorities are actively searching for both missing individuals.

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Heavy flooding caused major rivers like the Iril, Thoubal, and Nongdambi to overflow their embankments, submerging villages and displacing thousands of people. This disaster has worsened the plight of those already struggling to recover and rebuild their lives.

In Imphal East, over a thousand families in Santi Khongbal, Seijang, Sabungkhok Khunou, Nongada, and Tellou-Chana were forced to flee as swollen tributaries of the Iril River caused water logging.

Schools, colleges, and universities in Manipur's flood-hit areas were closed for two days, but reopened on Wednesday. However, student attendance was extremely low due to the persistent flooding, with many homes and educational institutions still submerged underwater.

One of the main water supply plants at Porompat in Imphal east was also shut due to the flood while JNIMS, a state-run hospital in Imphal East had already evacuated the patients to safer locations after flood water entered the hospital premises.