ANAND OBEROI
GANGTOK, 25 Aug: Five people were killed in two incidents of landslides in West Sikkim last night.
A cloud burst triggered a massive landslide at Samathang village near Malbasey under Soreng Sub-division claiming the lives of three of a family at midnight.
The deceased are 36 year old Nirmaya Chettri, the wife of 45 year old Pratab Singh Chettri [the only survivor of the disaster], and her daughters, 16 year old Manju Chettri and 6 year old Anju Chettri. The family was wiped out when a landslide peeled away from the under-construction PMGSY road and collapsed on their house. The family was asleep at the time, and only the father escaped with his life.
The DPO, West, Jigmee Bhutia, while speaking to NOW! over the phone, informed it was only after daybreak that the neighbours, accompanied by police personnel, panchayat members and disaster relief manpower from the West district administration were able to recover the dead bodies and evacuate the Mr. Chettri to the Namchi district hospital where he is undergoing treatment at present.
The Soreng MLA, Minister RB Subba, Distict Collector Santa Pradhan, Soreng SDM, Aishwarya Singh and other officers of the district administration reached the spot and assessed the damage.
Apart from the casualties in Pratap Singh Chettri’s family, the slide has also severely damaged the houses of Ashok Chettri and Parvati Chettri and both the families have been evacuated to a safer locations nearby.
“For the moment, the two families have been provided an initial relief of Rs. 10,000 each and have been evacuated to the residence of another local, PP Rawat, which is acting as a relief camp for the victims. Further assessment is to be carried out and accordingly the compensation packages will be released. Our present strategy is to evacuate all those in danger to safer locations as the area is still not stable,” informed the DPO.
It is also informed that the intensity of the slide was multiplied by the loose earth dumped on the slope by the PMGSY road construction. This much had buried a natural spring which contributed further to the torrential downpours potential for damage.
Another factor is the lack of an adequate drainage system at the road construction site, sources inform.
“The area is still unstable and possibilities of another slide is a very real danger which cannot be ignored thus we are moving everyone in the area to safer locations. This is the priority we are working on at present. All the government agencies are here and are working in a coordinated manner to solve each problem one at a time,” the DPO added.
In another tragic incident in the district, two more persons, Santa Bir Majhi and Sarki Majhi, employed as casual labourers at a private construction site at Hee- Khola under Dentam constituency were killed on the spot when loose muck buried them at the construction site at 9 a.m. this morning.
According to the DPO, the dead bodies have been recovered and have been sent to the Gyalshing district hospital for postmortem. The authorities will release the dead bodies once the family members arrive. At present, the ward panchayats of the area have taken charge of the situation under the supervision of the West district administration.
“The bodies will be released to the families and ex gratia payment will also be made as per the assessments. The district administration is working on a war-footing to make the affected areas safer,” the DPO assures.
GANGTOK, 25 Aug: Five people were killed in two incidents of landslides in West Sikkim last night.
A cloud burst triggered a massive landslide at Samathang village near Malbasey under Soreng Sub-division claiming the lives of three of a family at midnight.
The deceased are 36 year old Nirmaya Chettri, the wife of 45 year old Pratab Singh Chettri [the only survivor of the disaster], and her daughters, 16 year old Manju Chettri and 6 year old Anju Chettri. The family was wiped out when a landslide peeled away from the under-construction PMGSY road and collapsed on their house. The family was asleep at the time, and only the father escaped with his life.
The DPO, West, Jigmee Bhutia, while speaking to NOW! over the phone, informed it was only after daybreak that the neighbours, accompanied by police personnel, panchayat members and disaster relief manpower from the West district administration were able to recover the dead bodies and evacuate the Mr. Chettri to the Namchi district hospital where he is undergoing treatment at present.
The Soreng MLA, Minister RB Subba, Distict Collector Santa Pradhan, Soreng SDM, Aishwarya Singh and other officers of the district administration reached the spot and assessed the damage.
Apart from the casualties in Pratap Singh Chettri’s family, the slide has also severely damaged the houses of Ashok Chettri and Parvati Chettri and both the families have been evacuated to a safer locations nearby.
“For the moment, the two families have been provided an initial relief of Rs. 10,000 each and have been evacuated to the residence of another local, PP Rawat, which is acting as a relief camp for the victims. Further assessment is to be carried out and accordingly the compensation packages will be released. Our present strategy is to evacuate all those in danger to safer locations as the area is still not stable,” informed the DPO.
It is also informed that the intensity of the slide was multiplied by the loose earth dumped on the slope by the PMGSY road construction. This much had buried a natural spring which contributed further to the torrential downpours potential for damage.
Another factor is the lack of an adequate drainage system at the road construction site, sources inform.
“The area is still unstable and possibilities of another slide is a very real danger which cannot be ignored thus we are moving everyone in the area to safer locations. This is the priority we are working on at present. All the government agencies are here and are working in a coordinated manner to solve each problem one at a time,” the DPO added.
In another tragic incident in the district, two more persons, Santa Bir Majhi and Sarki Majhi, employed as casual labourers at a private construction site at Hee- Khola under Dentam constituency were killed on the spot when loose muck buried them at the construction site at 9 a.m. this morning.
According to the DPO, the dead bodies have been recovered and have been sent to the Gyalshing district hospital for postmortem. The authorities will release the dead bodies once the family members arrive. At present, the ward panchayats of the area have taken charge of the situation under the supervision of the West district administration.
“The bodies will be released to the families and ex gratia payment will also be made as per the assessments. The district administration is working on a war-footing to make the affected areas safer,” the DPO assures.
Dear sir/madam,
ReplyDeletethanks for providing the news ,i daily check your blog for news ,the sections are also interesting,keep the good work going,as we in remote corners dont get the print version.
Subbiah
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