Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Minister and MLAs lead joint-inspection of West Sikkim’s litter of landslides

GYALSHING, 27 June [IPR]: A joint inspection of the massive landslide destruction suffered in Yangthang constituency of West Sikkim was conducted by the departments of Land Revenue & Disaster Management, Roads & Bridges and Irrigation & Flood Control along with the West District administration on 25 June, Saturday.
Deputy Speaker MB Dahal, who represents Gyalshing-Bermiok constituency in the Legislative Assembly, Roads & Bridges Minister RB Subba and the Yangthang MLA PL Subba headed the daylong inspection accompanied by the DC [West] S. Pradhan, Land Revenue Secretary BK Kharel, Secretary Roads & Bridges HS Sharma and Secretary Irrigation & Flood Control RK Khanna.

The tour started from Kyongsa Girls Senior Secondary School, Kaktsu Khola Langang where jhora-training works and protective works were directed to be initiated at the earliest and estimates drawn up of all agricultural lands destroyed by landslides.
At Tikjek, numerous houses, bamboo groves as well as agricultural tracts have either been washed away or buried under slush. Electricity lines and water supply lines have also been destroyed at many places here. The 11 KV transmission line single-circuit at Tikjek Bhir has also been destroyed, cutting off power to half of Dentam, as per the report of Power Department’s SE posted in GYalshing.
Here, Om Prakash Gurung, whose house was buried by the slide was also given immediate relief by the LR&DM Department to procure necessary items like cooking utensils and ration. An Ex-gratia relief of Rs. one lakh was also handed over by the DC to San Maya Subba, the niece of Man Maya Subba who was killed in the mud slide while trying to flee the rage of the night of 23 June.
The Roads & Bridges Minister also instructed concerned officers that slip clearance and immediate restoration of road formation be taken up immediately along with protective works.
River-training works are also to be taken up in most of the streams/ jhoras running through the area in order to stop the rampant slides.
The inspection carried on to Sakyong Road where the road formation has been destroyed at 5th km from Gyalshing at Andheri Khola. Here, it was decided that Dans Energy construct the protection wall on the valley side and the PWD/ Roads& Bridges take up the breast-wall construction. This work is to be taken up on a war footing as it is the main road which connects Sakyong and outlying areas with Gyalshing.
The disastrous site of the 23 June landslides is Khorang on the Pelling-Dentam road, where fourteen lives were lost. On Saturday, there were 67 SSB personnel, 7 firemen, 13 Gyalshing thana personnel, PTDA members and local volunteers at work on this site. 
The inspection team called on the relatives of the victims and  assured them all possible help in their hour of loss and grief.
The area is littered with numerous minor slides, all of which were also inspected and the concerned officers briefed accordingly for the immediate restoration of services.



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