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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