ITANAGAR, June 29, 2026 — Heavy monsoon rains pounded Arunachal Pradesh on Monday, causing floods and landslides that damaged roads, bridges and houses, cut off villages and prompted large-scale rescue and relief operations across at least 12 districts, officials said. The Indian Air Force and state disaster teams were deployed as the India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for the region.
In Lower Dibang Valley, an IAF helicopter rescued four people stranded on an island in the Sisiri River at Dambuk after flash flooding severed access. Heavy downpours also severely damaged the Roing–Anini road, with sections of roads and bridges washed away in several places. In Dambuk, nine people including a gaon bura reported stranded in Sissiri floodwaters were also airlifted to safety on Monday morning, the district administration said.
In Anjaw district an excavator operator working on a highway near Sarti village was feared dead after a massive rockfall crushed the machine on Sunday night. Rescue work was suspended overnight because of poor visibility and the risk of further rockfalls, then resumed early on Monday with personnel from the Walong outpost and Hawai police station assisting; the operator’s condition has not been officially confirmed.
East Siang district reported major disruption to road connectivity: eight key stretches remained blocked, leaving Yagrung, Tekang and Sibut cut off from Pasighat. A cloudburst in Ledum and Korang villages of Ruksin subdivision damaged 11 houses, submerged three others, collapsed the Rema Bridge and damaged Bokrang Bridge. SDRF teams, district officials and volunteers rescued 40 people and shifted families to safer locations. The district has opened relief camps and emergency operation centres and ordered schools closed until Tuesday, June 30, 2026, citing the IMD red alert.
Several major highways remain impassable. Of 11 principal road sections hit, only two have been reopened; the others — including Pasighat–Pangin, Pasighat–Mariyang–Yingkiong and Pasighat–Mebo–Dambuk–Bomjir — are still blocked or unsafe. Flooding also inundated at least 10 houses in Ledum after a river changed course, with one house nearly submerged and livestock swept away; around 12 families were moved to safer shelter, including a community dere.
Lower Siang saw a massive landslide at Siji that temporarily blocked the Siji River near the Likabali checkpost; authorities warned downstream residents and deployed police to alert riverside villages. The river’s flow returned to normal on Monday morning after the ponded water receded. Leparada district reported widespread damage from flash floods and landslides, with Chisi and Padi among the worst hit and several bridges and road stretches blocked.
Search operations entered their sixth day on Monday for two people still missing after a flash flood struck Keyi Panyor on June 24; the death toll from recent floods has risen to three after recovery of the body of Saurabh Kumar Kharwar near Hawa Camp on Sunday, June 28. Preliminary assessments indicate extensive housing and infrastructure damage across Keyi Panyor, Papum Pare, Kra Daadi, Kurung Kumey, Lower Subansiri, Kamle, Upper Subansiri, East Siang, Leparada, Lower Siang, Lower Dibang Valley and Anjaw. District administrations say relief, restoration and rehabilitation work will continue on a priority basis until normalcy is restored. (With PTI input)
Original Source: https://arunachaltimes.in/index.php/2026/06/30/monsoon-fury-batters-arunachal-12-districts-affected/
Category: State News
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Publish Date: 2026-06-30 00:43:00
