Death in the mountains

I attended the funeral and cremation ceremony of  the victims of yesterday's landslide (see here) at the Buddhist Cremation grounds at Tirpai, Kalimpong.
The family had put up photos of the victims (mother, daughter and son) while Tibetan lamas (monks) chanted prayers in the background.
What makes these deaths so senseless is that the landslide could have been wholly prevented with a little attention to the drainage in the area.
But then I am afraid that we will see this costly mistake being repeated ad nauseam all over the Darjeeling Himalayas as the monsoons intensify.

Praful Rao