Soureni, a village in the line of fire

Some years ago, Soureni, Bara Bhalukhop was a quaint little village nestled in a picturesque part of Kalimpong- just below Dello hill.
Today, it is a village living on borrowed time.
Huge landslides have opened up only several hundred feet above it and people of 16 houses in that area live in mortal fear of being swept away in mudslides. Many of them had shifted into temporary shelters during the first and second week of Sep 2007 when the rainfall was heaviest. From one of the houses where children happily played, it took me hardly 2 mins to walk upto the landslide area...
a grim reminder of just how close we are to collosal disaster.

praful rao