Lagyap water conductor bursts over Nandok, damages 19 houses

RESIDENTS COME TO EACH OTHERS AID, UPSET WITH DEPARTMENTAL LETHARGY IN RESPONDING TO THEIR COMPLAINTS ABOUT HEALTH OF PIPELINE

SUBASH RAI
GANGTOK, 19 Sept: A water conductor carrying water to the Lower Lagyap Hydroelectric project here near Ranipool burst about 700 feet above Nandok village under Syari constituency due to the Sunday evening temblor, throwing down a disastrous rush of water into the village and completely damaging 19 houses, including the school there. Quick reflexes and brave intervention of the people ensured that the rush of water which blasted through the cluster of houses did not claim any lives. Only one person suffered minor injuries [requiring no hospitalization] with some pulled out from the raging waters while already waist deep in water and slush.
As much as the residents are relieved that they escaped the earthquake and the mudslide which followed, they are enraged at the Power & Energy Department’s disinterest in their complaints about the durability of the pipelines above. They are convinced that the disaster which visited them last night resulted as much from the earthquake as from the negligence of the Power Department.

“We had put up many proposals several times in the past informing the Power Department about the dilapidated condition of the pipeline above our village and rust which had set in making it weak. Our appeals remained unheard and we had to face the consequences last night,” said an irate Samdup Lepcha, a resident.
About the deluge itself, PB Khaling, another resident who has lost his house at Nandok, recalls, “For some time after the earthquake, we were paralyzed in fear and then frightened by the river-size water rushing through the village. We somehow managed to gather our wits and take control of situation; even as some of us called the Power Department officials to close the valves sending water into the channels, the others started rescuing the people.
The request to close the valves also remained unattended with water continuing to pour into our village till 8:30 this morning.
Sikkim went through an unprecedented disaster last night and the responses were not as smooth as people would have wanted. Nandok suffered much last night and their trauma was not helped by the fact that no help from outside could reach them till well into Monday.
“We immediately informed the concerned officials but neither police personnel nor any rescue team arrived to our assistance. We managed to save the lives of the entire village but could not save our belongings our livestock,” said Ghanasyam, one of the affected villagers.
Officials from the Power Department reached the spot to a hostile reception at noon Monday.
“We were shocked to see the Power Department officials taking photographs of the damaged site without having discussed our situation,” said Rajesh Rai alleging that it was Power Department’s negligence which caused the damage. The pipelines, he said, had not been repaired even once since 1985 when it was handed over to the Department by the Central Water Commission.
The only relief camp site to accommodate the affected villagers was the school campus. This unfortunately was in the direct path of the pipe burst and rendered too dangerous to be occupied as the accompanying photographs will vouch.
It is not as if help did not reach the village at all. The villager unanimously endorsed the assistance rendered to them by Sikkim Democratic Front’s Nandok branch office, the village church, the Little Angels private school and neighbours unaffected by the slide for opening their doors to open relief camps for the affected people.
“The concerned departments must guarantee safety and restore drinking water supply by this evening,” echoed the villagers when asked about their demands.