Two Injured, Several Vehicles Damaged in landslide at Arunachal Pradesh's Itanagar

Itanagar: Two persons were seriously injured and many vehicles damaged in a massive landslide here on Wednesday, officials said. Triggered by incessant rain for the past few days, the mudslips occurred at around 8.45 AM along NH-415 near the police headquarters.

The arterial highway was blocked for several hours because of huge amount of debris. The two injured persons -- Tarin Mosu and Biri Tath -- were admitted to Ramakrishna Mission Hospital (RKMH) here with hand and head injuries, Capital Superintendent of Police (SP) Tumme Amo said.

The debris was cleared and no one else was found trapped under it as had been feared earlier, Home Minister Bamang Felix said after visiting the site. Dozens of cars, most of which were parked along the the roadside and inside a nearby garage, were damaged as rocks and boulders rolled down the hill and rammed into them.

The highway remained blocked for over five hours at that spot and cars remained stuck on both sides, Amo said. NH-415 is the lifeline for residents in the twin capital cities of Itanagar and Naharlagun, which are 14 kilometres apart, as the road connects the north-eastern state with neighbouring Assam.

It was cleared for traffic at around 2.30 pm after five excavators were pressed into service along with personnel from the State Disaster Response Force, the National Disaster Response Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the state police.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu assured government support to the two injured persons. He also urged the people travelling on landslide-prone zones to be extremely careful and to strictly adhere to the instructions issued by the administration.

"The government is privy to the situation and has put in place measures to tackle any untoward incident. Though we may not always succeed in tackling nature's fury, with people's co-operation, many precious lives and valuable properties can be saved," Khandu said in a statement.

The home minister extended his gratitude to the people who came forward and volunteered in saving precious lives and appealed to the people to be vigilant during the monsoon.

On July 11, two girls were buried in their sleep and three others were injured when a landslide caused a boundary wall to collapse on the hostel building of a school in Tawang district of the state.