Four of family buried alive in landslide as Arunachal grapples with incessant rains

Itanagar, July 10 (PTI): Four members of a family, including an eight-month-old baby, were buried alive as a massive landslide hit their house in Arunachal Pradesh’s Papum Pare district in the early hours of Friday, even as the state grappled with a series of earthfalls due to incessant rains, officials said.

The landslide that occurred around 2.30 am in Tigdo village buried the house with all the occupants sleeping, Papum Pare Deputy Commissioner (DC) Pige Ligu said.

The bodies were retrieved from the debris by police and NDRF personnel with the help of locals, he said.

The house belonged to Tana Neka and the deceased were his two sons, daughter-in-law and grandchild, Ligu said.

However, Neka and his wife are safe as they live in another house, he added.

Those killed were identified as Tana Martin (22), his wife Yabung Lindum, daughter Tana Yasum (eight months) and brother Tana John.

With this, the death toll due to monsoon-related incidents in the state has climbed to 11.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed grief over the deaths of the four persons.

He announced an ex-gratia amount of INR 4 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased, which will be released immediately.

Khandu cautioned that according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), heavy rain is expected across the state in the next few days, and urged people to take all precautionary measures.

The chief minister directed the district administrations and disaster management department to keep a strict vigil and continuously monitor the situation in order to avoid large-scale devastation and loss of lives.

Incessant rains for the last five days have triggered landslides and floods that have left a trail of devastation in the state, damaging roads, houses and inundating low-lying areas.

Landslides have been reported from various locations in and around the state capital region.

Besides, road communication has been badly affected and the water level in the streams and rivers in the state capital has risen.

A mudslide at the Dokum colony has damaged houses in the Chimpu area. A road in Niti Vihar was also affected due to a landslide on Thursday, officials said.

A landslide hit the Waii International Hotel here, damaging its staff quarters, they added.

Besides damaging a long stretch of road from the gate of Dera Natug Government College to Upper Vivek Vihar here, landslides have blocked a road from the Hilltop colony to the IRBn colony.

PWD Assistant Engineer B Tadar said a large stretch of the Papu Nallah-Itanagar road via Jullang has also been damaged.

A culvert near the Nyishi Elite Society (NES) secretariat at Richi was washed away, due to which the road has been closed, officials said.

A series of landslides and flash floods has left a trail of destruction in East Siang district.

The washing away of a 30-foot approach road to a bridge over the Sile river has affected communication on the Mirem Mikong-Ruksin road under Ruksin sub-division.

Several pockets of Pasighat, the district headquarters of East Siang, are facing a flood-like situation with the low-lying areas completely inundated.

The Siang river and all its tributaries are flowing above the danger mark and the district administration has issued advisories, asking people not to venture into the rivers.

East Siang DC Kinny Singh has activated the Incident Response Team and directed the district disaster management officer and incident commanders of the district to remain alert.

He has also cautioned people against venturing into the Siang and Sibo Korong rivers for fishing and other activities. All the major rivers and their tributaries are in spate in Lohit, Dibang Valley, Lower Dibang Valley, West Kameng and Namsai districts.