20 people die in NE India landslide

The federal government ordered rescue and relief teams to be sent to Manipur, even as the annual monsoon wrought havoc in the region.

“I am sad to learn about the landslides triggered by heavy rains in Chandel district of Manipur, which has resulted in the loss of a number of lives and injuries as well as damage to property”, the president said in a message to Manipur Governor Syed Ahmed.

Rescuers were searching Sunday for 20 villagers feared killed in a landslide in remote northeast India, as the death toll from days of torrential rains elsewhere in the country rose, officials said.

More than 10,000 people have been evacuated across Gujarat in the past week.

A 60-year old man in Thoubal district’s Langmeidong village was killed after the strong water current swept him at his locality, while a school boy reportedly drowned in Churachandpur on Saturday.

He said that initially locals from the neighbouring village made desperate bid to clear the huge earth masses enveloping the village but in vain and only after the arrival of the official rescue team, operation to clear the debris was started.

Only one person survived the calamity in the village and he reported the incident at the Assam Rifles post of Hengshi village.

The Asian Highway No. 1 connecting Imphal with Moreh on the Myanmar border has been cut off. Doctors have been appointed in relief camps.

“Waters are ceding. The bridge over Sengvai river, though not destroyed, has developed cracks on the side”, Hechin Haokip, a resident of Pallel in Thoubal district bordering Chandel, told IANS.

“Last night my team went to Imphal and from there they visited the affected area”.

Many areas in and around Imphal and its outskirts have also submerged.