Preliminary report on Fatal Landslide at Sukhia Pokhrim Darjeeling (08Jul2019)

At around 1:30 am on Monday night (08Jul2019), a landslide occurred at Chatai Dhura (Forest Village) below Pubung Fatak, near Sukhia, Darjeeling. The house of Lopchan family was buried under the landslide.

Two people, Kumar Lopchan (60 years) and his wife Bal Kumari Lopchan (55 years), died. They were buried under the debris. After being extricated by the Police and Fire brigade and they were rushed out to Sadar Hospital, Darjeeling where the doctor declared them dead.

The landside and mud flow/slide occurred from State Highway 12 which connecting Sukhia to Simana. The landslide is more than 100 metres and 30-40 metres wide. As per IMD, the rainfall of Darjeeling is 172 mm in the past 24 hours (07Jul2019).

The probable cause behind this incident is as per BDMO Sukhia block, could be due to state highway extension. While its construction the mud or soil was left opened at the side. The drainage wasn’t clear out for the monsoon water flow. As to look into, the village was built on steep slope.

The problem the people faced was due to being under no network coverage area. So, the information to the Gram Panchayat Staff was late. The BDMO received the information around 6 am in the morning.

Amit Gurung,
STH
Darjeeling