At least 16 people died and one was critically injured after incessant rain for the past few days triggered landslide at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh in the wee hours of Friday.
Police said that the landslide occurred at Phamla village, located 5 kms away from Tawang, and swept away a camp of the construction labourers burying 15 of them alive while two others managed to escape with critical injuries.
“One of the critically injured persons later breathed his last while on the way to hospital, taking the death toll to 16. The condition of the other injured remained critical till filing of the report,” said Tawang district administration officials.
“While three of the deceased hail from different districts of Arunachal Pradesh, 12 of them belong to Assam. The labourers were engaged in construction work of a five-star hotel in the area. The hotel was being constructed by former Arunachal Pradesh Tourism Minister Pema Khandu,” said the officials.
“There were 17 workers and all of them were sleeping in a tent near the under-construction hotel site. The landslide occurred around 3 am on Friday and swept across the tent burying 14 workers alive while two managed to escape with critical injuries,” said the officials, adding that the bodies have been retrieved in a joint operation carried out by Army, civil administration and the villagers.
Incessant rain for the past few days had wrecked havoc in many places in Arunachal Pradesh, snapping road communication and cutting off many places from the rest of the State.
Arunachal Pradesh Governor JP Rajkhowa had only last week reviewed the Disaster Management and Disaster Preparedness in the State with Chief Minister Kalikho Pul and senior Ministers of the Cabinet and called for preparedness among the people to face any eventuality in case of disaster.
Rajkhowa had also advised the State Government officials to mobilise volunteers and train the youth on disaster response procedure, starting from village level. He had also instructed to conduct mock drills involving students, volunteers, general public and elders in public places so that they prepare themselves how to response during earthquakes or any natural calamities.
He had also advised the Government to involve Army and paramilitary personnel, NGOs in the exercise, set up control rooms that operate round the clock immediately. He said that communication network must be strengthened and mobile dispensaries and ambulances kept in place.