- NET Web Desk
In order to address the grievances of Manipur landslide victims, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was inked today between the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), Noney District Administration and Makhuam Village Authority at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Wednesday.
It has been signed in presence of the Chief Minister – N Biren Singh, Disaster Management Minister – Awangbow Newmai and Hill Areas Committee (HAC) Chairman – Dipu Gangmei among other officials.
This MoU addressed a series of demands put forth by the Makhuam Village authority regarding the challenges, arising out of the recent massive landslide that occurred at Maranching, Noney District.
The MoU was signed by the Chief Engineer of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) – Sandeep Sharma, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Noney District – Haulianlal Guite and Chairman of Makhuam Village Authority – Lanranglung Gondaimei.
Addressing the mediapersons, Singh asserted that the railways will bear education fees of the three children orphaned by the catastrophe. The amount shall be transferred into their respective/next-of-kin’s bank accounts, so that they can pursue their studies without interruption.
The children will be initially housed at the Rengpang Residential School. Additionally, it will cover any funeral expenses which will be utilized for the customary rites of burial and cleansing procedures by the Makhuam village authority.
Besides, the Manipur CM has thanked all the personnel of various organizations, villagers and CSOs of the Marangjing area involved in the search and rescue operation for their tireless efforts to trace the missing bodies.
Taking to Twitter, the Manipur CM wrote “Held a press conference wherein an MoU was signed between the Northeast Frontier Railways, Makhuam Village Authority and District Administration after the conclusion search operation of the landslide in Noney district.”
Held a press conference wherein an MoU was signed between the Northeast Frontier Railways, Makhuam Village Authority and District Administration after the conclusion search operation of the landslide in Noney district. pic.twitter.com/zOuJDsDfaU
— N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) July 20, 2022
The Manipur government on Wednesday officially called-off the search operations, just 20 days after the massive landslide struck the railway construction site in Noney District.
According to the Chief Minister – N. Biren Singh, the massive landslide had claimed lives of 61 people, while 18 people have been rescued.
Atleast, 56 bodies have been retrieved from under the debris and 5 people, including four civilians and one Territorial Army (TA) personnel, are still missing, and it has been decided to declare them dead. Thirty of the deceased are TA personnel, while the rest are railway officials, labourers and locals.
Its worthy to note that this massive landslide had 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.
Meanwhile, the Manipur Chief Minister – N. Biren Singh earlier referred the catastrophe as “worst incident in the history of Manipur”.
“Bulldozers and other engineering equipment were used to make the incident site accessible and assist in the rescue efforts. A Thorough Wall Radar from Ladakh was being inducted by air to detect the presence of personnel buried in the debris. A search-and-rescue dog was also 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 were involved into rescue operations at the landslide-hit Tupul station building.
The landslide debris had also obstructed the Ezei River, which flows through Tamenglong & Noney Districts of Manipur.
