Six districts in Assam put on high alert following landslide in China

Following landslide in China's Yarlung Tsangpo and threat of water bomb, six districts in upper Assam have been put on high alert.

Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Sivasagar and Golaghat have been put on a high alert by the state government.

Assam and Arunachal Pradesh has gone on alert after the formation of an artificial lake on the Yarlung Tsangpo river after a cliff fell at Milin section of the river, 70 km from Nuxia Hydrological Station in Tibet.


Tsangpo is known as Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra in Assam. The blocked water was flowing downstream to Arunachal Pradesh's Siang river at a speed of 18,000 cubic metre per second.

Assam Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal assured,"We are fully equipped to deal with the current situation. I'm in constant touch with the Centre. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj called me up and assured all kind of assistance to deal with the situation. Accordingly six companies of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were flown in by a special IAF aircraft from Kolkata to Dibrugarh. The SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) and other agencies are also being deployed in the vulnerable districts. I appeal to the public not to panic but to cooperate to help us tide over the crisis."

Six NDRF teams consisting of 150 members landed at the Dibrugarh airport. The district has stopped ferry service on river Brahmaputra.

The water level of the Brahmaputra in Dibrugarh had remained at 103.32 metres at 1pm on Saturday against the danger level of 105.70 metres.

However Siang river in Pasighat was showing a rising trend as the river was flowing at 152.93 metres at 1pm against the red mark of 153.96 metres.