Two, including TSR jawan, killed while saving people during Tripura flood

Two persons, including one Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawan, have lost their lives while trying to save others during the floods caused by incessant rainfall in Tripura, officials said.

The deceased persons were identified as Ashish Bose, TSR jawan from Belonia in South Tripura district, and Chiranjit Dey from Indranagar in West Tripura district.

According to officials, 24 people have been killed, two sustained injuries while two have gone missing due to rain related incidents in the state since August 19. Nearly 1.28 lakh people have taken shelter at 558 relief camps across the state.

“Deeply saddened by the loss of Ashish Bose (TSR Jawan from Belonia) & Chiranjit Dey (from Indranagar), two brave fighters who made the ultimate sacrifice while saving others during #TripuraFloods. My deepest condolences to their families & friends. May their sacrifice continue to inspire us to strive for greater heights of courage and bravery. Their selfless act will never be forgotten,” chief minister Manik Saha wrote on microblogging site X.

With improvement in flood situation due to less rainfall in the last two days, water level in all rivers barring River Gomati at Sonamura in Sepahijala district have come down below the danger level.

As per initial estimation, nearly Rs. 5,000 crores losses have been reported due to the flood across the state though the final figure is yet to be released.

Saha on Friday visited some flood-affected areas including Amarpur, Karbook in Gomati district, Santirbazar in South Tripura district and inspected a relief camp in the South Tripura district to take stock of the situation there.

The Centre has released a ?40-crore package for rescue, relief and rehabilitation in the flood-affected areas.

According to the Meteorological Department (IMD), light to moderate rainfall is expected on Saturday in many parts of the state.

Due to the current flood situation, the government announced on Thursday that all educational institutions, including Government, Government-aided, and private schools, colleges and State-run universities, which have been closed since Tuesday, will remain shut until further notice.

Meanwhile, food minister Sushanta Chowdhury said that the state has sufficient stock of food, petrol and diesel and warned the sellers not to hike prices of essential commodities in the post-flood situation.

“There is no crisis of food, petrol and diesel. So, there is no need to be anxious. If anyone hikes prices of commodities without any reason, heavy penalty charges would be imposed on them and legal action will be taken against them,” he said.

As per the instruction of the chief minister, over 3,000 food packets were distributed among the flood-affected victims and the Food Department has kept an additional 8,000 packets ready to tackle the situation, he added.