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Figuring out a way to prevent ‘incidents’ like Kinnaur landslide in future: Himachal CM
Addressing reporters on Monday, chief minister Thakur said a team has been sent to assess the situation and study as to why these mountains were breaking. Thakur said the state government is figuring out a way to prevent such incidents in future.
As the search and rescue operations for those missing in the August 11 Kinnaur Nigulsari landslide incident resumed, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur said on Monday that he met with the injured and their families, even as he expressed concerns that some people are still feared trapped inside the rubble.
Addressing reporters on Monday, chief minister Thakur said a team has been sent to assess the situation and study as to why these mountains were breaking. Thakur said the state government is figuring out a way to prevent such incidents in future.
“We are trying to figure out a way to prevent it (landslides) through scientific study in the coming days. The government is making efforts in this direction,” the chief minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Last week, Thakur had announced an ex-gratia of ₹500,000 for the next of kin of the deceased.
The death toll in the landslide in Kinnaur touched 25, after bodies of two more people were recovered on Monday morning. The search and rescue operations are being jointly conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and members of local police and home guards.
State disaster management director, Sudesh Kumar Mokhta, said that as per details provided by the Bhawanagar SHO, the two bodies were recovered from the rubble at Chaura village on National Highway 5 in Nichar tehsil on Monday.
Mokhta said an SUV with passengers inside, feared to be buried under the rubble, could not be traced till now, adding it might be possible that the car rolled down along with the debris.
A majority of the bodies were recovered from the wreckage of a Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus, which slid down National Highway 5 after being hit by boulders during the landslide on August 11. The bus was carrying 22 passengers.
On the same day, eight bodies were found in a taxi and two cars were found in a damaged condition, even though there was no one inside. On Thursday, four bodies were found from the spot of the landslide, while three were taken out on Friday and six were retrieved on Saturday.
The state administration, meanwhile, restricted movement of all types of vehicles on the stretch from 9pm to 9am citing safety.
(With agency inputs)
