Manipur landslide: LoP Debabrata Saikia urges PM Modi for quick evacuation of trapped workers
Jul 03, 2022
Guwahati (Assam) [India], July 3 : Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to expedite the evacuation of workers, trapped in the massive landslide in Manipur and sought immediate aid to families of the deceased workers.
He requested the Prime Minister to immediately release of Rs 25 lakhs of PM's Relief Funds to the families of deceased workers and Rs 10 lakhs to the injured.
In the letter, Saikia said, "I would like to draw your attention to immediately release the Prime Minister's Relief Funds to the families of the deceased workers and an amount of Rs 25 lakhs to be paid to them. In the primary investigation of the incident, it was pretty evident that the concerned authority of Indian railways was not following the disaster management protocols adequately, because of which, the incident took such an unfortunate turn and took away the lives of the sole breadwinners of at least eight families of Assam."
The LoP said that many more such cases are also expected to be discovered during the rescue process. "According to officials, as the landslide area covers about a 1 km stretch, the search operation may take a few more days. With this, they are also indirectly confirming the death of the other missing persons," the letter further read.
"I would like to demand the amount mentioned above for all the families of those who lost their lives in the unfortunate incident and an amount of Rs 10 Lakhs for those ones with minor and major injuries," the letter added.
Meanwhile, Saikia has also requested the Prime Minister to release an order for assessing the recent construction of Indian Railways in these Geo-Sensitive Zones of North East India to prevent any such cases in the near future.
The first landslide hit the Noney area of Manipur on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday near the company location of 107 Territorial Army of the Indian Army deployed near Tupul Railway Station for the protection of the under-construction railway line from Jiribam to Imphal.
The North-East Frontier Railway CPRO said the landslide triggered by incessant rains caused damage to the Tupul station building of the ongoing Jiribam - Imphal new line project.
