Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 408/15

CM HOLDS EMERGENT MEETING AS LANDSLIDES CLAIM 5 LIVES IN TURA

Tura, June 16, 2015: As incessant rains on the intervening night of June 15 and June 16 triggered landslides in parts of Tura leaving five per dead and another injured, the Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma held an emergent meeting with the District Administration and State Disaster Response Team to review the situation, here at Tura Circuit House on Tuesday afternoon.

After reviewing the situation, the Chief Minister declared that an ex gratia compensation of Rs. 4 lakh each should be provided to the next of kin in all the five cases. The Chief Minister also visited the spot where landslide occurred and interacted with the local people and assured them of the support of the government. He also highlighted the need for proper drainage and sanitation at the place of the incident.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister ordered for a Task Force to be constituted to survey the building and establishments and survey all habitations to find out whether they had taken relevant permissions from the District Urban Planner and whether they conform and adhere to building bye laws. He said that this task force should also perform a safety audit of the entire town area along with Tura Municipal Board and Urban Affairs department. The task force should hold meetings and consultations and assess possibilities of relocation of potential disaster prone establishments and houses to safer zones. It should also take up complete and comprehensive mapping of the vulnerable areas, he added. The Chief Minister also said that there should be more awareness and consciousness at the level of local area development committees and market bodies to assess the vulnerability and take collective ameliorative steps before any disaster strikes. The mapping of assets and safe houses should be done by them jointly with Tura Municipal Board.

The deceased in Nakham Bazar landslide have been identified as Pinky Chetry (37), Bijoy Chetry (19), Priya Chetry (14) and Rohan Chetry (10), all from a family, while Chhotelal Prasad (62) was killed in a separate incident of landslide at Sepoy Colony. Meanwhile in South West Garo Hills, 22 villages with 9000 population under Zikzak block have been affected by floods. However, no loss of life has been reported due to floods till date.

The Chief Minister had earlier on Monday evening reviewed the state of preparedness with the district administration of South West Garo Hills and urged all the line departments to take necessary actions as per the NDRF/SDRF norms. The nodal officers were also warned that if they were found wanting in their assigned duties and responsibilities during the time of natural calamity, action to be taken against them would be intimated to the concerned higher authorities.

The BDOs of Zikzak and Betasing blocks have been directed to assess the flood damages immediately and to take necessary follow up action.

It may be mentioned that the Chief Minister has been assessing the situation from ground zero in West and South West Garo Hills districts for the last three days even as impending floods and landslides loomed over the region with heavy rains lashing the region for several days. The Chief Minister also reviewed the functioning and operation of the Border Haat at Kalaichar and the next morning he surveyed the areas along the Assam-Meghalaya border en route to Tura to assess the flood situation in the district.