Gangtok,
April 12: Heavy pre-monsoon showers that lashed Sikkim throughout
last night caused minor landslides and mud slips in various
parts of the capital, crippling vehicular movement. The rain
reduced to a drizzle and finally stopped only early this morning.
The landslips disrupted traffic on National
Highway 31-A and some other roads leading to localities in
Gangtok. The roads were cleared for traffic in the afternoon.
At Deorali, a suburb in the hill state capital,
the run-off rainwater washed away loose soil just next to
the Sikkim Democratic Front party headquarters. The slush
and debris flooded a kitchen and another room of two government
quarters.
The sliding mud also breached water pipes
running through the area, adding to the damage. Though property
was damaged, no loss of life was reported.
`The slush seeped into the quarters occupied
by Rajesh Gurung around seven this morning. Gurung was away
on tour,` said R. Pradhan, his neighbour and an employee at
the bureau of economics, statistics and evaluation monitoring.
Pradhan also said the gushing water from the pipes, the force
of the run-off rainwater and overflowing drains on the roadsides
had increased the magnitude of the landslips. He also said
some windows were damaged by the mudslide.
The mudslide also choked a school building
that was under construction near Kopibari junior high school,
below Nam Nang and Shyari. The civil defence was pressed into
service at the two spots since early morning today. It was
also given charge to assess the damage caused.
`A squad of the civil defence cleared the
areas to prevent further landslides. The team also assessed
the damage done and carried out rescue operations,` said civil
defence sector officer Aswin Oberoi.
Additional district magistrate Vidya Subba
also accompanied the civil defence workers to inspect the
affected areas and take stock of the situation. Subba also
apprised the urban development and the public health engineering
departments on the situation.
The additional district magistrate told
The Telegraph: `Reports are coming in from other areas in
the East district. The road to Singithang in east Sikkim has
been blocked due to the landslides.`
Reports of landslips, though minor in nature,
also came in from Tadong and Sichey, two Gangtok localities.
The damage caused by these mudslips were limited to disruption
of traffic.
While the roads at Tadong were cleared,
sources said it would take more than a day to clear the debris
from the road to Sichey next to the sub-post office.
The rains also washed away the soil covering
the newly laid underground sewage pipes on the approach roads
to the localities. The metalled roads had been dug to lay
the sewage pipes and had been temporarily covered with a layer
of loose soil.
Courtesy
The Telegraph |
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