By Cosmos Sangma
Tura, Oct 4: Three people have been killed in separate incidents of landslides triggered by torrential rains in the Dalu Civil Sub Division area of West Garo Hills district on Friday morning. The deceased include a five year old child.
Garo Hills has been reeling from incessant rains since Thursday leading to rivers breaching their banks and landslides to occur.
A 57 year old woman, Santa N Marak, was buried alive after a hillock came down on their kitchen at Koinabui village of Dalu around 7:30 in the morning. She was preparing food with her 28 year old daughter, Moralistic N Marak, when the landslide occurred. The daughter survived the incident with injuries and has been admitted to Dalu community health centre hospital, inform authorities.
Around the same time, police and rescue teams were alerted to another two landslides in the Dalu region.
A landslide destroyed a house at Sorokpara village and rescue teams later pulled out from the rubble the body of a 5 year old boy identified as Miando P Marak.
The third casualty occurred in Karonggre village where another landslide destroyed a house killing 18 year old Sanira M Marak. Her body was recovered shortly after.
Multiple reports of damages to homes, roads, bridges and human dwellings have been reported from across the Garo Hills following a night of heavy rains on Thursday.
Maximum damages have been reported from West Garo Hills and South Garo Hills districts.
A crucial bridge at Kujikura in Dalu, connecting West and South Garo Hills through the border road has been washed away by rising waters from the adjoining rivers.
Road connectivity between Tura and Dalu, as well as from Tura to Chokpot and Baghmara, have been effectively cut off by a major landslide on the highway at Chunmati, outside of Tura town.
Multiple cases of landslides, tree falls and house collapses triggered by the rains have been reported from Tura town also.
In Chokpot Civil Sub Division of South Garo Hills, the Dareng river breached its banks causing widespread flooding of Silkigre Primary Health Centre and the Rongrikkimgre health sub centre damaging several equipment and medical items.
Students and staff of the RMSA school at Silkigre had to work on a war footing on Friday morning moving crucial items, including computers, to high ground before flood waters inundated the school.
The damages and deaths caused by this week’s torrential rains happen to be the second major calamity to hit Garo Hills in the last two years.
In June 2022, a cloud burst triggered similar flash floods and landslides in West and South Garo Hills districts killing ten people and destroying roads and bridges. The damage to infrastructure was so intense that Garo Hills is still reeling from its impact.
The tourist region of Siju sustained extensive damage from the cloud burst with entire roads and villages washed away. As many as eight people were killed in landslides that occurred in Bolsalgre, Rongsa Awe and Siju in South Garo Hills. A mother and two young children were buried alive after a portion of a hill came down on their home while they were asleep in the Gambegre region of West Garo Hills, that year.
