Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Heavy rains trigger landslides‎ across Gangtok



GANGTOK, 07 June: The heavy downpour that the capital received last night brought down a flurry of minor mudslips across Gangtok.
  • The final turning to Chandmari had a mudslip greeting travelers in the morning. This one, right on the road, held up traffic early this morning.Further up, a slide pushed a Mahindra Maxx which parked on the far bank of the road into the porch of a house across the road. This was towards Dichiling, a short distance ahead of the Forest Checkpost at Chandmari. People at the site believe that the vehicle saved the house by taking the brunt of the slide and cushioning its impact on the house. The clearing up of muck from this spot also disrupted traffic today.
  • Elsewhere, the central government quarters at SIB complex at Baluakhani were damaged when the protective wall and the footpath behind the houses collapsed on to it. The three families residing there have been evacuated, however, most of their belongings were damaged. The footpath leads to ISPW office [Inter-state Police Wireless Station]. Other buildings in the area also appear in danger.
  • The road leading to Middle Sichey from the Byepass also sank due to last night’s downpour. The steep incline leading to Tamang Gumpa sank more than two feet here which made it impossible for vehicles to ply on the road. The road is still blocked for small vehicles with some drivers negotiating their Boleros and Gypsies on the temporary makeshift cushion of rocks layered out by the locals. The road according to locals is still sinking and has also endangered residential buildings in the area.
  • A portion of the park just as you one enters the All India Radio [Prasar Bharati] campus from the highway gave way last night as well. SAP/IRB jawans cleared the debris but further rain could bring more slush.
  • The Sikkim Government College’s woes with unstable structures continues with a portion of its boundary wall on the northern side collapsing.
(Now Daily)

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