Darjeeling/Kalimpong, Sept. 14: Landslides
triggered by heavy overnight rain in the hills caused extensive damage
in six tea gardens but planters said the digging being done under the
100-day rural job scheme was making the soil come loose.
While work had to be stopped for
the day in Takdah and Lopchu gardens because of the slides, Bannockburn,
Phoobshering, Ging and Pussimbing reported loss of many tea bushes.
“Takdah received
around 18 inches of rainfall in the last 24 hours. Around 160 labourer
quarters have suffered damage. A 40ft road in Takdah has been washed
away in four places and five culverts have been damaged in landslides.
There is no approach road to the garden factory now,” said Sandeep
Mukherjee, the principal advisor to the Darjeeling Tea Association.
Mukherjee said 13 labour quarters and two culverts had borne the brunt of the calamity at Lopchu.
“Tea bushes in an
acre of land have been uprooted in Lopchu and road connectivity within
the garden has become a major problem. Given the extent of the damage,
no work could not carried out in Lopchu today.”
Road communication
in the Ging tea garden, about 20km from Darjeeling, was hit after three
culverts had been damaged. “In Phoobshering, 6,500 tea bushes have been
uprooted by the landslides. There is no approach road to the factory
now. Water has also seeped into the garden factory,” said Mukherjee.
The DTA has
alleged that constructions under the 100-days’ work scheme aggravated
the situation in the tea gardens. “The soil in the plantations loosens
when boulders are removed to build pathways and roads during the
monsoon. At some places, the main drain gets blocked while the sewerage
is being improved, leading to spilling of water,” said Mukherjee.
The DTA has
demanded that the government issue a directive to stop construction
activities under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme during the rainy season.
“We are told that
in many states like Harayana, 100 days’ work scheme is not executed
during the agricultural season. We also demand that the scheme be
implemented in the hill gardens bet- ween October and March,” he said.
Subin Pradhan, an
architect said: “It is always advisable that earth-cutting is avoided
during the monsoon as the loose soil could easily trigger a landslide.”
Saumitra Mohan,
the principal secretary of the GTA as well as the Darjeeling district
magistrate, however, said an order had already been issued to all
subdivisional officers and block divisional officers, saying any project
be cleared only after taking into account environmental concerns and
technical viability. Elsewhere in the hills, four persons were injured
in the landslides.
“A house collapsed
at Singritam near Glenburn tea garden and one person was injured,” said
a resident of Singritam, 25km from Darjeeling.
Minor landslides
in over a dozen places in and around Darjeeling were also reported. The
NH55was blocked at Dali early this morning because of a mudslide but the
road was cleared by 8am. “The NH31A had also been blocked (at Tarkhola,
Melli and Kalijhora) but all major roads have been cleared of debris
with the help of agencies like the Border Roads Organisation and the
public works department,” said DM Mohan.
In Kalimpong, the
landslides occurred near Chota Bhalukhop-Leprosy Hospital, East Main
Road, Mahakal Dara, between 3 Mile and 7th Mile and between Nimbong and
Bakrakote. About 10 houses at Laminigaon in Chota Bhalukhop stand
precariously below a hill where the earth has loosened and a landslide
might occur anytime. Similarly, five houses along East Main Road could
tumble down as there are high chances of a landslide getting bigger
below.
Huge boulders
rolling down the Deolo hill damaged the road at Mahakal Dara and a
bridge near Tashiding in the 6 Mile area was destroyed in the
landslides.
Source: The Telegraph
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