16 feared killed in West Sikkim landslides

A lady being rescued from the Khewadara landslide. While she, along with four others escaped with their lives, 14 people were killed in the house wiped out by a slide there on the intervening night of 23-24 July 2011.

14 KILLED IN ONE HOME WHERE VILLAGERS HAD TAKEN SHELTER
PURAN TAMANG
NAMCHI, 24 June: ‘Monsoon activity’, which had subsided over the week, opened with ferocious intensity last night, especially over West Sikkim, where it cast a pall of gloom, hitting the Gyalshing sub-division with a heart-rending casualty list of 16 deaths, 14 of them in one home at Khewadara, about 12 kms from Gyalshing, where neighbours had gathered to escape a minor slip elsewhere in the village.
Khewadara, Ward No.5 of Lingchum -Tikjuk GPU under Yangthang Constituency, carries the most tragic tale of the night. It was here in the home of Indra Maya Gurung that 14 villagers were buried alive, with only five of the 19 who had taken shelter there escaping alive. The village has only five houses in the area, two which have been completely damaged, including the one which the casualties took place.
According to one of the survivors, at around 11.30 p.m. last night, when a minor landslide hit the village, 19 of them gathered in the house of Indra Maya Gurung believing it to be a safer alternative. Their decision proved fatal because moments after they had collected there, a landslide peeled off from about 100 meters above and pulverised the house. Of the 19 people in the house at the time, only 5, including Indra Maya Gurung, made it out alive. They have all sustained injuries.

Rescue teams recovered eight bodies from the debris after a whole day of recovery operations. Six bodies, including that of a three-month-old baby remain untraced.
Among the victims are Pramila Gurung (16), a class IX student at Pelling Senior Secondary School; Kumar Rai (35), Maya Rai (35), Anu Rai (11), Anup Rai (08) and Sonam Rai (02) originally from Darjeeling and the parents working as labourers here while the children studied at Khorong School; Dawa Tamang (60); Suk Maya Chettri (55); Tek Bdr. Adhikari (48), his wife Januka Adhikari (30) and their 3-month-old baby from Ramitar in Nepal; Phip Raj Subba (25) of Longchom, Pujan Subba (12) of Kaluk Sribadam and Srijan Subba (08).
Rohan Rai, Indra Maya Gurung, Pradeep Rai, Suman Tamang, Dhan Maya Gurung and Dolma Tamang were rescued from the silde and are under treatment at Gyalshing Hospital. According to the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. T. Wangyal, all the survivors are out of danger.
Another landslide hit the Gyalshing sub-division at Tikjuk above Gyalshing town where Man Maya Subba (35) was killed on the spot when the slide crashed into her home. Dhan Maya Gurung, residing in the same house was grievously injured.
In still another incident, this time at Lower Pelling on the other side of the hill, Raj Kr. Thakur (41) was buried alive when his rented quarter was hit by a landslide last night. The victim, originally from Bihar, was working as a barber in Pelling. His brother, who with him at the time, escaped with minor injuries.
The rescue team which has been working tirelessly at the disaster-hit area comprises of the District Disaster Management Cell, Police personnel, Fire-fighters and SSB personnel along with local residents. This team has not taken a break since they started the rescue and recovery operations.
The landslide hit areas were also visited by by area MLA PL Subba, DC West, Santa Pradhan, SP West Rajiv Ranjan and other officials from West District.
Although the entire effort is currently directed at recovering the dead bodies and rescuing the injured, news has also started filtering in of landslides having caused extensive damage in the district. More than 100 houses are feared damaged and approximately 300 people displaced.
Sources inform that the DC, Santa Pradhan, has sought immediate release of funds from the Land Revenue & Disaster Management Department to meet the challenge.
The DC also highlighted that the focus at present was on rescue and rehabilitation ad that disbursement of relief to the victims will be announced shortly.
The slide also disrupted the traffic of Pelling-Darap today.  The area of Pelling, Khorang, Tikzek, Geyzing and several other villages had no electricity today due to the slides and heavy rain.
The overnight rainfall has also hit the road network in the district severely. The roads blocked by slides are: Chumbong to Darap, Pelling to Darap, Guruthang to Arigaon [via Tangsing where around 10 vehicles are stuck between landslides], Gyalshing to Jorethang at 8th Mile, roads in Legship area damaged at 8 spots, and Soreng to Gyalshing road.
According to officials of the Road & Bridges Department, it will take at least a month, provided the weather allows uninterrupted repairs, for the road network to be completely restored.
The Khewadara area has also been without electricity since the landslide and this is already creating communication problems for the rescue efforts there. Power & Energy Department officials inform that it will take at least 20 days to restore power supply to the affected area.
Meanwhile, additional medical teams have been rushed to Gyalshing from Namchi to assist health workers there in tending to the injured.