• NET Web Desk

The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Assam Legislative Assembly – Debabrata Saikia today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite the evacuation of workers, trapped in the massive landslide that recently-struck Manipur; and sought immediate aid to families of the deceased workers.

In a letter addressed to the PM, Saikia noted “By this letter, I would like to draw your attention to immediately release the Prime Minister’s Relief Funds to the families of the deceased workers and an amount of 25 Lakhs (Twenty Five Lakhs) to be paid to them. In the primary investigation of the incident, it was pretty evident that the concerned authority of Indian railways was not following the disaster management protocols adequately, because of which, the incident took such an unfortunate turn and took away the lives of the sole breadwinners of atleast 8 (Eight) families of Assam.”

“In contrast, many more such cases are also expected to be discovered during the rescue process. According to officials, as the landslide area covers about a 1 km stretch, the search operation may take a few more days. With this, they are also indirectly confirming the death of the other missing persons.” – the letter further reads.

“I would like to demand the amount mentioned above for all the families of those who lost their lives in the unfortunate incident and an amount of 10 Lakhs for those ones with minor and major injuries.” – he further added.

Meanwhile, Saikia has also requested the Prime Minister to release an order for assessing the recent construction of Indian Railways in these Geo-Sensitive Zones of North East India to prevent any such cases in the near future.

Taking to Twitter, Saikia wrote “Today sent 3 seperate letters to Hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji, railway minister @AshwiniVaishnaw & CM @himantabiswa, demanding quick action to rescue workers from the massive landslides in Manipur & grant ex-gratia to the families of the deceased and injured.”

Today sent 3 seperate letters to Hon'ble PM @narendramodi ji, railway minister @AshwiniVaishnaw & CM @himantabiswa, demanding quick action to rescue workers from the massive landslides in Manipur & grant ex-gratia to the families of the deceased and injured. pic.twitter.com/UQLzRZtSbH

— Debabrata Saikia (@DsaikiaOfficial) July 3, 2022

Its worthy to note that atleast eight people from Assam, including one soldier and 7 construction co-staff, have been killed so far in the massive landslide that struck a railway construction site in Manipur’s Noney district. Whereas, 12 others from the state, including a railway engineer and 11 other construction staffs, are still missing. 5 have been rescued out of which 2 are hospitalized.

The death toll of the massive landslide at the railway construction site in Manipur’s Noney district rose to 37 on Sunday. An official said that three more bodies were recovered while search operations were underway for another 25 people.

Among the 37 people, 24 are Territorial Army (TA) personnel while 13 of them are civilians; as informed by a Defence spokesperson in Guwahati.

Referring the catastrophe as “worst incident in the history of Manipur” on Friday, the Manipur Chief Minister – N. Biren Singh noted that bulldozers and other engineering equipment are being used to make the incident site accessible and assist in the rescue efforts.

“We have lost 81 people’s lives of which 18 including a territorial army (personnel) were rescued. Around 55 persons are trapped. It will take 2-3 days to recover all the dead bodies due to the soil condition,” – stated the Manipur CM.

“A Thorough Wall Radar from Ladakh is also being inducted by air to detect the presence of personnel buried in the debris. A search-and-rescue dog is also being inducted,” – informed an official release.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indian Army, Assam Rifles, State Government teams, TA personnel, and Railways workers are involved into rescue operations at the landslide-hit Tupul station building. Fresh teams were deployed in the morning of July 2, to augment the efforts.

This massive landslide took place on Wednesday midnight, and struck the company location of 107 Territorial Army of Indian Army deployed near Tupul Railway Station for protection of under construction railway line from Jiribam to Imphal. Besides, the landslide debris had also obstructed the Ezei River, which flows through Tamenglong & Noney Districts of Manipur.