Sunday, February 3, 2008

Then and now..11th Mile





5 months have elapsed since "the silent disaster" of Sep2007 and we have another 3 months (Feb to April) before the monsoons hit us again..
In this series, I will post photos of landslides (taken earlier after the landslides) and photos of the same area, taken approximately from the same spot 5months later. To be fair, I will also post photos of any preventive work which has taken place around the affected areas and maybe a short interview with any of the local people available.
You be the judge and see how much preventive work has has taken place. (I will post photos from spots in and around Kalimpong where I live, but I am pretty much sure the story is the same elsewhere in the district.)
In Sep2007 the landslide at 11th mile did not quite occur. What did happen was that large land mass with many buildings/structures on it suddenly sank..the cause was a jhora (mountain rivulet) which was never "trained".
5 months later the huge crack on the road has been covered with a veneer of bitumen and a limited amount of work has been done on the jhora.
Suffice it to say that this exemplifies the type of preventive work that has taken place at many places - a case of too little, too late.

(Sep07 photo courtesy Chinlop bhai)

praful rao

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