GTA decides to rehabilitate landslides victims in three phases

9:51 AM

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landslide

Vivek Chhetri

Darjeeling, July 9: The GTA (Gorkhaland Territorial Administration) has decided to rehabilitate landslides victims in three phases in what is expected to be one of the biggest rehabilitation processes in the hills in recent times.

Arun Sigchi, the elected GTA Sabha member from Soureni, today said: "On July 6, we held a meeting with the management of Soureni, Gayabari and Singbuli tea gardens. The management of the gardens has agreed on the need to rehabilitate those who have been affected in the landslides. We plan to undertake the process in three phases."

Despair and Worry Plagues Lower Reshap Residents - Darjeeling landslide

Those people whose houses are inhabitable will be immediately relocated to safer places in the first phase. In the second phase, those whose houses are partially damaged will be rehabilitated.

"In the third phase, we will relocate those houses which are situated on steep slopes and in vulnerable areas," said Singhi.

The GTA is also looking at using the survey report of the Geological Survey of India to finalise its long-term rehabilitation process.

Sigchi said they were looking at rehabilitating around 600-700 families only in the Mirik block. The figure is expected to touch around 900 families across the Darjeeling hills.

According to preliminary reports, property worth around Rs 27 crore has been lost in the July 1 landslide. The figure, however, does not include damage to infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

The district administration will be providing a sum of Rs 1.01 lakh each to reconstruct fully damaged houses.

"Since this amount will not be enough, the GTA will also be pooling in funds for the reconstruction of houses," said Sigchi.

The GTA today held a review meeting in Darjeeling that was chaired by Ravi Inder Singh, the principal secretary of the hill body.

At present, the GTA has cleared 40 roads leading to various villages across the hills.

Source: Telegraph

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GTA Press Release on landslides in the Darjeeling hills

10:26 PM

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mirik

Press Release from Gorkhaland Territorial Administration on 9th July 2015.

The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration's Chief Executive Mr Bimal Gurung is visiting all the areas affected by the landslides in Kalimpong including Todhay Tangta, Lava Lingsey, Gitadabing and Khola Khan at lava.

Bimal Gurung visiting the damaged areas during heavy rainfall on 30th june 2015 to 5th july 2015 in the hills

Principal Secretary, Dr Ravi Inder Singh chaired a high-level meeting to review the status of relief and rescue operations in areas affected by the recent landslide.

Mr Bimal Gurung , the Hon'ble CE was briefed over the phone on the extent of destruction, including the damage to infrastructure such as roads, Schools, Colleges, Government buildings and power lines by the Principal Secretary. In the meeting an overview of the status of relief operations and steps taken to ensure supply of essential commodities including food and drinking water was discussed. GTA is currently accessing the damage caused and shall be sending their report to the State and Central Government.

List of roads damage during heavy rainfall on 30th June 2015 to 5th July 2015 in the #Darjeeling hills PART ONE

List of roads damage during heavy rainfall on 30th June 2015 to 5th July 2015 in the Darjeeling hills. PART 2

Mr Bimal Gurung, instructed top officials of the GTA to continue to work closely with the affected area to ensure that there are no bottlenecks in relief and rescue work. He also emphasized the need to document learnings from this landslide. The meeting was attended by all GTA Executive Directors, Engineers and other top officials along with Shri Trilok Dewan, MLA Darjeeling.

In the meeting a list of roads restored by the GTA was also presented.GTA in the last one week have been working round the clock and has restored nearly about 40 roads in GTA area.

Media Cell, Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

Via: Bimal Gurung Official

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Notice to stop Laying Underground Cables in the Darjeeling hills

10:56 AM

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mirik

Vivek Chhetri

The Darjeeling district administration has issued a notice asking telecom service providers to stop laying underground cables in the hills till the monsoon is over.

Notice asking telecom service providers to stop laying underground cables in the
Darjeeling hills till the monsoon is over.

Mirik residents have cited "shoddy" work by some firms as one of the primary reasons for landslides in the area.

Thirty-two people died in the July 1 landslides and Mirik was the worst-hit area.

Today, Darjeeling district magistrate Anurag Srivastava said: "We have asked the companies not to lay underground cables till the monsoon is over. We have also asked a company which was laying cables to stop the work immediately and clear the clogged drains."

Neelam Adhikari from Limbu Gaon, whose under-construction house was damaged in the slide, said: "The companies are continuously digging up roads. But the work is shoddy and water seeps in as the roads are not repaired properly. We strongly believe that underground cables could be a reason for the landslides."

Srivastava said officials had been asked to stop major constructions, if required, till the rains were over.

Source: Telegraph

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How Bengal Government and Darjeeling Dist Administration Let People in Tingling to Die

9:37 AM

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West Bengal

Special Report: Upendra for The Darjeeling Chronicle

When landslides happened in Tingling, the only group of people who were not shocked were the Tingling residents.

They knew this day was coming. In fact, they had known this day would come since 2011.
Following the 2011 earthquake, land had started to sink in, in Limbu Gaon Tingling. Worried over the sinking, Mr. Dipesh Thapa wrote to the district administration via the Manager of Singbully, to kindly take stock of the landslide threat posed to the village and had pleaded, "arrange us shifting to another safe place within Tingling TE (sic).” The letter dated November 30, 2011 was received by Mirik BDO and Mirik Police Station on behalf of the District Administration.

The letter dated November 30, 2011 was received by Mirik BDO

The district administration allegedly did not take any action, following which, the local people sent another letter to the North Bengal Debelopment Minister, requesting specifically, "we the residents of Tingling Limbu Gaon, under Mirik Block would like to draw your attention of your kind intervention in saving lives of villagers who are under severe threat due to unceasing landslide just below the village (sic)"

Letter to the North Bengal Debelopment Minister

Following this, the Mirik Block Development Office had conducted a survey and found that the threat was sever. However, the BDO Office could not act on the matter, as it required higher authorities to take the decision.

In a letter dated 18th of July 2013, which the Mirik BDO had CC:ed to 1) The District Magistrate, DMS, Darjeeling 2) The Sub-Divisional Officer, DMS, Kurseong and 3) The Executive Engineer, Irrigation and Water Ways Department, Kurseong Mirik BDO writes, "As per field enquiry it is found fact that there is a huge landslide directly affected to the above said village... it is beyond the capacity of the establishment to protect the landslide affected area as desired by the villagers. You are hereby requested to consider the matter urgently."

Letter to the  Manager of Singbully

However, the district administration did not take any action, nor did the North Bengal Minister.
Despite three and a half years of head-start, the Darjeeling District Adminstration and the Bengal government failed to act on repeated pleas by the residents of Tingling, Limbu Gaon. Today the Limbu Gaon is no more, the entire village has been washed away due to the landslide of June 30th night.

It is devastating to learn that the loss of precious human life could have been averted, had the district administration and the North Bengal Minister acted on those repeated requests and desperate please sent by the residents of Limbu Gaon, 20 of who are dead today.

This is a clear case of dereliction of duty, on the part of Darjeeling District Administration and the North Bengal Minister, leading to the death of 19 individuals, which makes it a case of culpable homicide.

The State government has blood on their hands, and hence we all need to write to the Supreme Court of India to order an inquiry to ascertain the responsibilities and initiate criminal proceedings against those who have cause the willful death of our hill people.

[We are MOST THANKFUL to Voice of Mirik For Breaking this news story, and for kindly sharing these letters with us]

Via - TheDC

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Darjeeling Landslide Property worth Rs 50 cr lost

11:13 AM

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mirik

On July 1, landslides had hit Darjeeling, Mirik, Kalimpong and Kurseong, killing at least 40 people.
Days after multiple landslides hit Darjeeling district, authorities on Sunday said property worth at least Rs 50 crore has been damaged. This, even as the state government is still gathering data to ascertain the loss.

Landslide-hit Mirik near Siliguri.

“Considering the houses damaged in our jurisdiction, the loss has been estimated to be around Rs 20 crore. But in areas under Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA), houses have been demolished and bridges and roads maintained by PWD washed away. Overall, the loss figure will rise significantly and easily cross the Rs 50-crore mark. One bridge built by PWD alone will cost around Rs 10 crore in repair,” Darjeeling District Magistrate Anurag Srivastava said.

On July 1, landslides had hit Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong, killing at least 40 people. Srivastava on Sunday said that while one more body was recovered, 10 people are still missing.
This comes a day after another landslide occurred near Kalijhora. But as there was no house in the area, no casualty or injury was reported.

As weather conditions have improved on Sunday after days of incessant rain, rescue work continued in full swing. Around 30 earthmovers have been engaged in removing debris. A part of the damaged NH-10 was also opened Sunday to establish a link between Kalimpong and Sikkim. PWD authorities have built a temporary bridge across Rakti river after the existing one was washed away and vehicles started plying on Sunday. Damaged roads in Kalimpong have also been restored for vehicular traffic.
Asked whether there was a chance of an outbreak of any epidemic, the DM said: “Doctors are visiting relief camps everyday. Additional toilets have been built and chlorinated drinking water is being served. Special care is being taken towards sanitation… All measures have been taken to stop an epidemic.”

“As many as 33 relief camps have been set up in the district, which are accommodating 3,100 people at present. Search operations will continue till we find the 10 people who are missing… We have been able to send relief materials to the remotest parts of the landslide-affected areas,” he added.
People who had taken shelter in the three relief camps in Tingling and Lamagaon villages following the landslides are gradually returning home, officials said. Around 200 to 250 families have been sheltered in those camps and now only those whose houses have been completely destroyed are staying in the camps.

The GTA has informed the Centre about the damages in the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong, said Kalimpong MLA and GTA member Harkha Bahadur Chhetri. “Around 400 houses have either been damaged or destroyed in the disaster,” Chhetri said.
GTA chief Bimal Gurung had on Saturday called up Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to provide an update on the disaster. The state government is also conducting an assessment of the landslide-battered districts and the report will be sent to the Centre.

Source - Indian Express

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Darjeeling disaster waiting to happen, Mamata warns against rampant construction

9:21 AM

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Mamata Banerjee

A geophysicist has said the state government failed to implement norms prescribed by an expert committee for construction of buildings in the landslide-prone Darjeeling hills.

"Darjeeling's mountain rock is quite fragile and its compactness is low. Besides, the area receives very high rainfall and its soil has extremely low water retention ability. Under these circumstances, the landslide was always waiting to happen, especially since appropriate building norms are hardly followed," said Tapas Ghatak, a geophysicist and a former urban development official with the state government.

ROCKWOOD, KAKJHORA DARJEELING

Ghatak said though a state-level expert committee, of which he was a member, had suggested in 2000 a number of norms for setting up houses in the hill town, they mostly remained on paper. "According to norms, there should not be any construction on land where the slope is more than 30 degrees, but one even finds massive buildings on 65 degree slopes."

Building big houses on steep slopes adds to the pressure on the land and makes the area more prone to landslides.

"If one compares point to point, then Darjeeling is no less vulnerable than Uttarakhand. Darjeeling's population density is greater, rainfall is higher and it has more rivers. The only saving grace is that Darjeeling is less vulnerable to earthquakes than Uttarakhand," he explained.

Mamata Desai of the Netaji Subhas Research Institute in Calcutta, which does research work on the environment, said: "In the 1930s, the infrastructure of Darjeeling was created for an area of five square km and meant for around 20,000 to 30,000 people."

According to her, though Darjeeling town has almost doubled and population increased six folds - actually much more if tourists are considered - there has been little augmentation of the infrastructure.

CM Mamata warns against rampant construction in Hills

After visiting the battered hills devastated by a series of landslides that killed more than 30 people,West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today warned the authorities against allowing rampant construction in the Hills.

The haphazard construction was clearly behind the landslides and the death of so many people, she said from Ground Zero.

Yesterday, CM Mamta Banerjee reached Tingling tea estate near Mirik, travelling for more than four and-a-half hours from Siliguri.

It was here that at least 21 people were buried alive by the landslips. Many are still missing.
The Chief Minister said the Geological Survey of India (GSI) would be requested to study the fragile hills and come up with suggestions.

Houses and tall buildings should not come up in an unscientific manner,’ she said, adding, ‘I have asked the authorities of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration to monitor each and every new construction.

Ms Banerjee maintained that Darjeeling’s wooden bungalows have given way to concrete high-rises and the results are there for all to see.”

The September 2011 earthquake in Sikkim and April 25, 2015 quake in Nepal that killed thousands should be an eye-opener,” she said.

The govt will take immediate steps to redress the situation, she added.

The state government would write to the Centre to send a GSI survey team to Darjeeling,†she said, demanding that the centre generously contribute towards rebuilding roads and homes.

She stressed for strict monitoring of all construction activities and said all building rules should be strictly followed. – UNI

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Mamata Banerjee visits landslide-affected areas in Darjeeling

7:44 PM

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West Bengal

Darjeeling 2nd July 2015: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claims that she traveled by road to the worst affected areas of landslide-hit Darjeeling hill where at least 38 people have been reported dead and missing . She said that it took her 6 hour to reach Mirik from Siliguri owing to the road condition caused by the landslide which would normally take one hour.

Mamta Banerjee Visits Mirik Landslide Affected Areas

Mamata Banerjee  in the social media wrote
"I travelled more than six hours to reach Mirik from Siliguri to personally see the damages caused due to landslides. It was a difficult journey, especially after the fresh landslides last night.
On my way, I stopped at various relief camps to meet the landslide affected families. The largest camp is at Soureni, where more than 500 people are accommodated. I distributed compensation cheques and relief kits to the family members.
I also visited the spots where major landslides took place. Our administration is working relentlessly to extend support and assistance to the affected people and areas.
I am continuously monitoring the relief activities. 
We are with my brothers and sisters all the time."

The CM reached here last night and took updates from the local administration about the extent of rescue work in Mirik, Kalimpong and other areas in Darjeeling district.

Since Tuesday night, heavy rain triggered a string of landslides in the mountainous Darjeeling district of West Bengal, killing at least 38 people, swamping homes, washing away highways and throwing normal life out of gear.

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