Incessant rain: Three dead in Arunachal Pradesh landslide

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: A woman along with her two children were buried alive when a massive landslide triggered by incessant rains since the past several days, hit their dwelling in Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh, a senior police official from the district said.

The incident occurred at around 5.30 pm on Monday, when a nearby hillock caved in the house located at remote Arzoo sub-divisional headquarters, 98 kilometres from Anini, the district headquarters, Dibang Valley SP S Singpho informed.

Anini MLA Mopi Mihu informed that the woman who, was his cousin sister, was staying in her residence along with her son and daughter while her husband stayed in different places in the district, working as the public relation officer of a construction company.

The deceased have been identified as 30-year-old Lini Umbrey, her son Eru Meme (7) and three-year-old daughter, the MLA said.

"Immediately after getting the news of the landslide, the officials of the district administration and police swung into action to rescue the persons with the help of excavators. However, the bodies could be retrieved only at 11 am on Tuesday after a whole night of rescue operation," Mihu said.

The SP informed that the area is remote with no telephone connectivity and the road from Anini was blocked in several places due to landslides making it impossible to send reinforcement from the district headquarters.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pema Khandu has expressed grief and sorrow over the reported loss of three lives in the landslide.

Conveying his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members who fell prey to the nature's fury, Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday said that the State and its people are with the victims.

He announced immediate release of ex-gratia amount Rs 4 lakh each to next of kins of the deceased persons.

Assuring all possible support from the State government, Khandu directed the district administration and the disaster management department to continuously monitor the situation.

Stating that the entire world is fighting COVID-19 pandemic, Khandu said, Arunachal has added problem of natural disaster every year.

He appealed to the people living in the low lying areas to shift to safer places while requesting those residing in landslide prone areas to immediately get to safer locations. He issued directives to respective Deputy Commissioners and disaster management department to monitor the situation on a regular basis.