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Thursday, September 22, 2011

Cut-off Jorethang continues to shudder in memories of Sunday quake

PURAN TAMANG
NAMCHI, 21 Sept: The entire State is grappling with a devastation of unprecedented scale and the process is no less daunting for South Sikkim’s border town of Jorethang. This is the only location in the district where a life was lost to the Sunday earthquake when a three-storied building collapsed at Majhitar.
The experience was harrowing in itself and the fact that the town remains without electricity or road connectivity, both lost to landslides and slips triggered by the earthquake, has not helped soothe frayed nerves. Most of the town’s residents seek out open spaces as darkness falls. The worry of depleting food-stocks is also playing on people’s minds with most restaurants having already shut down and kitchens running low on provision in most homes as well.
The water supply lines were also badly hit here and repair works have still not been completed. The Water Supply and Public Health Engineering Department is supply water through tankers and water tanks loaded on trucks even as its personnel are at work on completing the repairs.
Electricity supply to Jorethang has been disrupted at several places along the Mell-Jorethang axis, and this road is still closed. DE, Power Department, CK Rai, informs that the Department was trying to restore power supply to the area but this was taking time because most of the electricity poles carrying power lines to the town have collapsed.
The road-link to Namchi was however restored temporarily today and fresh supplies are expected to reach the town by evening. Even this road however remains at the mercy of the elements with the risk of falling boulders and landslides still present
Meanwhile, the other parts of the district are slowly returning to normal even as most residents, still unnerved by the Sunday experience, seek out the comfort of open spaces at night.

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