Agartala, Aug 30 (IANS): With a significant improvement in the overall flood situation in Tripura, around 86 per cent of the worst affected people who took shelter in 558 relief camps across the state, have returned to their homes since the last one week, an official said here on Friday.

Disaster management department officials said that around 17,940 flood-affected people were sheltered in 329 relief camps on Friday compared to 1.28 lakh people including women and children who were in 558 camps on August 23.

According to officials, the terrible floods since August 19 in Tripura claimed at least 32 lives and injured many, besides affecting over 17 lakh people in all the eight districts of the state.

Out of the 32 deaths, 20 were killed in landslides and house collapses in different places, while 12 died due to drowning.

Due to the heavy rains and floods, the state government closed all the educational institutions from August 21 and these were reopened from Tuesday (August 27).

In all, 4,590 schools in the state have so far been reopened except 144 schools which are yet to be re-opened as either relief camps were set up in these schools or badly damaged due to the floods.

These schools are in four districts -- Dhalai (14), Sepahijala (30), Gomati (49) and South Tripura (51).

The officials said that the academic activities have started in colleges after their reopening since Tuesday.

The six-member inter-ministerial Central team (IMCT), which arrived here on Wednesday, visited the worst-hit Gomati, Sepahijala, Khowai and South Tripura districts on Thursday and Friday.

The IMCT, led by B.C. Joshi, Joint Secretary (Foreigners Division) in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), will hold the all-important meeting with all the senior officials on Saturday to discuss the damage and loss of properties and crops.

Earlier, during an all-party meeting, Chief Minister Manik Saha said that as per the preliminary assessment, the damage to properties, crops and infrastructure amounted to around Rs 15,000 crore, which could rise further after field assessment.

The IMCT comprises senior officials from the Departments of Agriculture, Expenditure (Ministry of Finance), and Ministries of Jal Shakti, Rural Development, and Road Transport and Highways.

The Tripura Disaster Management Authority (TDMA) has declared the entire state as a "Natural Calamity Affected Area".

Tripura government's Relief, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Secretary Brijesh Pandey said that the decision to declare the entire state as a "Natural Calamity Affected Area" was taken considering the gravity of the situation, leading to loss of human lives and damage to public and private properties.

Besides the unprecedented flooding, landslides triggered by heavy rain occurred at 2,066 places, including many important highways such as National Highway 8, the lifeline of Tripura.

Disaster management officials said that as per the initial estimates, around 20,300 houses were damaged either fully or partially due to the heavy rain, landslides, and floods.