Flood situation in Lakhimpur district worsened on Sunday as NEEPCO continues to release dam water of its Ranganadi Hydro Electric Plant (RHEP) at Yazali in Arunachal Pradesh on the downstream of river Ranganadi for the third consecutive day.
The hydro-electric plant of the North East Electrical Power Corporation (NEEPCO) is located in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh in the Ranganadi basin and adjoining Dikrong basin.
The flood situation was further compounded by incessant rains in the district in the last 24 hours which left more areas inundated.
According to the District Emergency Operations Centre (DEOC), NEEPCO has been releasing waters from its RHEP dam in the upstream of the river in Arunachal Pradesh since May 22 at various scales from its gates which continued till 9.40 pm on Saturday at 2,000 MM from gate 5.
On Sunday, NEEPCO released dam waters from gate 5 at 1500 MM from 6 am, the DEOC said.
Later, dam waters were released from the same gate at 1,000 MM at 7 am, at 800 MM at 12 pm and at 1,100 mm at 1:30 pm on Sunday, DEOC said.
The released dam waters take three hours to reach North Lakhimpur.
The river waters of Ranganadi started to swell due to the dam waters on Sunday and inundated more villages on its bank from Panchnoi-Borbeel in North Lakhimpur to Aamtola-Maluwal.
Other villages in North Lakhimpur, Nowboicha and Bihpuria revenue circles in the district were also inundated by floodwaters.
According to the daily Site Report (SITREP) on flood by the Lakhimpur district administration, six villages have been affected with a population of 3,203 in the last 24 hours by floods.
The flood also inundated a crop area of 193.52 hectares so far in the district, said the SITREP.
On Saturday, the villagers staged a demonstration on the bank of Ranganadi at Panchnoi in North Lakhimpur against the release of waters by NEEPCO from its RHEP dam to the downstream of the river.