At least eight people, including four children, from two families, were buried alive and three injured in two separate landslides in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday. Officials said that the two landslides triggered by incessant rain during the past few days occurred in Papum Pare district and at Modirijo in between Itanagar and Naharlagun.
Officials said that the first landslide occurred at Tigdo village in Papum Pare district at around 2.30 a.m. on Friday when the victims were asleep, killing four people, including an eight-month-old baby and a 17-year-old boy, on the spot. The Papum Pare district administration and police, assisted by locals, retrieved the four bodies from the debris.
In the second landslide, four more people including two children were killed when their house was buried by a huge mudslide at Modirijo in between Itanagar and Naharlagun. Disaster management personnel helped by local people have recovered three bodies so far while a rescue operation to retrieve the fourth body was still on. Three children were also injured in the second landslide.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed deep shock and sorrow over the loss of lives in the landslides and announced an ex-gratia of Rs four lakhs for the next of kin of the deceased.
Khandu in a statement said that the incessant rain for the last couple of days that triggered landslides and floods has caused devastation in the entire state. “Reports have been pouring in about landslides in various locations from in and around the capital region. Road communication has been badly affected by nature’s fury and there is an increase in water flow in streams and rivers,” he added.
The Chief Minister cautioned that as per the Indian Meteorological Department, there is a likelihood of heavy rainfall in the next few days across Arunachal Pradesh. He requested the people to take all precautionary measures and refrain from staying at vulnerable locations.
Khandu directed the district administration and the disaster management department to continuously monitor the situation to avoid large scale devastation and loss of lives.
