Union Minister of State RK Ranjan has assured to intervene in the controversy surrounding the impact assessment survey of the ongoing railway project in Manipur, post the recent massive landslide that struck Makhuam village in Noney district.
The minister said he will apprise the Union Railway Ministry to review and restudy the railway project area to prevent any adverse circumstances. He was responding to a query raised by the Imphal Free Press on the sidelines of his inspection at the landslide affected site on Tuesday.
RK Ranjan further emphasised the need for proper impact assessment studies in a geologically weak and fragile state like Manipur before initiating any developmental projects in the future to prevent such catastrophe.
“As a student of Earth Sciences, we are also studying the cause. While a major thrust fold extends from Mao in the north to Churachandpur in the south, it has been learned that the thrust fold has nothing to do with the particular landslide,” he stated.
However, it is expected that the pile of land might have slid with the gravitational pull and hydraulic pressure caused by accumulation of water in the number of micro folds in the landslide affected area owing to high intensity rainfall, he added.
He observed that though the railway tunnel itself was not affected, the surrounding areas, including work sheds for the construction workers were swept away by the landslide debris. He also appreciated the efforts of the teams behind the search and rescue operation.
Despite their relentless efforts to trace the missing persons, none of the remaining 14 missing persons were retrieved on Tuesday. The rescue and search operations were also temporarily suspended in the afternoon as prompted by the rockslide that occurred in the area.
Till Monday, a total of 47 bodies have been retrieved while 14 were still missing. Of the 79 people affected by the landslide, 18 have been rescued alive.
Meanwhile, the CSOs and Longmai Area Village Authorities Council also submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the Union MoS.
The memorandum drew their attention to order fresh investigation and technical clearance with soil test, geological and seismic survey along the Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal railway line and the National Highway-37 surface road expansion.
The memorandum also pointed out that as many as three fresh landslides occurred in the aftermath of the Makhuam tragedy in the nearby hillsides and along the National Highway between Sibilong and Jiribam.
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