A hill in Manipur came falling; at least 50 buried alive
Environmentalists say activities such as vegetation clearing and slope cutting have left the soil in the area very loose and vulnerable to erosion.
Romain Phukan was sleeping watching a movie when the world around him collapsed. A high hill had crashed at the railway construction site where a 35-year-old man from Assam was working as a labourer.
Also Read:- Landslide death toll in Manipur rises to 48: Report 07Jul 2022
The exam had just started. A week later, at least 48 people are reported dead in one of the worst landslides the country has ever seen; Of these, 29 personnel of the Territorial Army were deployed for the security of the construction site. At least 14 soldiers of the martyred army are Gorkha soldiers – this is the biggest casualty of Gorkha soldiers of the Indian Army in peace time.
The rescue operation is going on day and night in the hope of finding the missing 13 people. The army is assisting in the search operation, providing the army and helicopters. But the rain and small landslides continued, making the operation even more difficult.
The landslide began at midnight when workers were sleeping in tents at a construction site in Tupul, a district two hours’ drive from state capital Imphal. The construction site is at the foot of a hill, around which two rivers flow. Just 30 kilometers away is the site where a railway bridge, the tallest of its kind in the world, is to be built.
In the last one month, the northeast has witnessed its most intense monsoon ever. Neighboring Assam has been forced to relocate thousands of people as one village after another disappears under water.
Also Read:- Landslide death toll in Manipur rises to 37 & 25 people still missing: Report 03Jul 2022
The railway line being built in this region is of great importance for the hill state of Manipur, which is dependent on road and air connectivity. This section is essential to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to connect all eight northeastern states by rail.
The region’s connectivity with an international railway network, with a budget of Rs 12,000 crore, is expected to generate trade and commerce for the Northeast, which has seen little industrial development or manufacturing.
Environmental clearances for the construction of the railway line, and the infrastructure required for this, such as stations, were issued a decade ago.
Sabyasachi Dey, a senior railway official told NDTV, “All the tunnels and bridges in this project are very stable, and no tunnel or bridge or any major structure has been affected by the landslide, it is only the yard station that has been damaged. ”
But environmentalists assessing the damage disagree. “When a railway line or road is built in this kind of topography, it involves clearing a lot of vegetation, cutting down slopes and then tilling the soil, but we are seeing that these activities make the soil very loose. And leaving them vulnerable to erosion,” said Raj Bharat P, a geoanalyst based in Tamil Nadu. They studied four satellite images that map the area before and after railway construction began.
Also Read:- Another landslide near Manipur tragedy site; 38 people are still missing: Report 02Jul 2022
A 2009 image shows lush green hills in the district where the landslide occurred.
A 2018 image shows slope cuts and forests being cleared. This is when construction began.
The expansion of construction with forest cover is significantly reduced in the 2021 image.
The fourth highlight turned red the parts of the hill that had collapsed.
Railway officials claim that their engineers have fixed any vulnerabilities in the Manipur Railway project to secure 47 tunnels and 156 bridges.
Experts say that while Manipur received torrential rains, the state received about 25 percent less rainfall than normal in June. Therefore, heavy rains alone may not have triggered the deadly landslide.
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A hill in Manipur came falling; at least 50 buried alive
Also Read:- Landslide at Territorial Army Camp in Manipur kills 10, over 50 missing: Report 01Jul 2022
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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