Landslide update (Darjeeling- Sikkim Himalaya) : 20Jul2011

The rainfall data (for the past 24hrs) from the 3 Automatic Rainfall Gauges (ARGs) at Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong reveals that it rained heaviest in Darjeeling (200mm+), followed by Kurseong (110mm+) and then by a rather dry Kalimpong (50mm).
The landslides which resulted are shown above.

Photo credits :-
Darjeeling Town  - Mr Mohan Lama (Darjeeling)
NH31A - Mukesh

Praful Rao

STH activities Jul2011

Praful Rao

From the Press (The Statesman) on 05Jul2011 : Move to create a safer Hills

Darjeeling,5July :-
Starting from tomorrow, the newly formed disaster management committee for the Hills will survey the municipal wards  and different blocks every Wednesday. The 15 member disaster  management committee that was formed on 23June has members from the Darjeeling Municipality, Civil Defense, Relief department, the Public Works Dept (PWD) and Public Health Engineering (PHE).
The incessant rainfall in the hills has triggered landslides in Kurseong and other parts of the hills. Last month a landslide in Kurseong claimed 4 lives.
Recently, on a visit to the landslide affected sites, the north Bengal development minister, Mr Gautam Deb said that the disaster management system in the hills was not well equipped and lacked trained people.
"The members of the committee will make a study and inspect the municipal wards and blocks every Wednesday. Sewage, drainage system,pipelines construction of buildings will also be checked" said Gopal Rai, a civil defense official......
To create awareness among common people on disaster management issues, campaigns will be organized across the hills from 08 July starting from Takdah block, 25km from Darjeeling.
"The committee will do its best to raise awareness among the people of the hills and steps will be taken to mitigate the outcome of natural disasters....."
"Negligence of locals have often contributed to natural catastrophes, for example the recent landslide in Nepali Girls Higher Secondary School, Darjeeling took place due to the leakage of pipeline of the hotel located above the school" said the official.

Statesman News Service

STH would like to thank Compuset (Darjeeling) for the photo.

Image of the day (05Jul2011) : National Highway 31A

The National Highway31A links Siliguri (in North Bengal) with Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. Today, the STH ARG installed in Kalimpong (which is almost 4000', directly above this area) recorded 80mm of rainfall, mostly between the wee hours of the morning and 1100hrs.
This was the result.

Comment by Praful Rao
Photo credit of road breach near Rangpo, Sikkim : Sikkim Express

Rainfall data Darjeeling, Kurseong & Kalimpong - June2011

      * - Fatal landslide at St Mary’s, Kurseong where 4 people died.

     ** - Rockfall at Goethal’s in Kurseong, one house damaged, one injured.

•   (23Jun2011) 16 Deaths at Pelling (W. Sikkim) due landslides, unfortunately rainfall data during this period at Pelling is not available.
  
• District  Wise Rainfall Distribution for some North Bengal Districts
  (01.06.2011 TO 29.06.2011)
  Dist                     ACTUAL      NORMAL     %DEP       CAT
                                 (mm)          (mm)
  Cooch Behar         369.6           643.0            -43%            D
  Darjeeling              575.5          510.1             13%             N
  Jalpaiguri               516.4          633.2            -18%            N
  Malda                   310.9           206.3              51%           E
  
  (Source http://www.imd.gov.in/section/hydro/dynamic/rfmaps/districtwise.htm  - where
  D - Deficient; N-Normal; E -Excess)
  
  My thanks to Ms Kanta Pradhan of Compuset (Darjeeling) and Mr Bhushan Chettri (Kurseong) for the rainfall data.
  
  Praful Rao

Milestones : Workshop on the "Role of Media in Disaster Risk Reduction" at Rumtek (Sikkim), 01-02Jul2011

Comment by Praful Rao
STH wishes to thank the organizers for making the few hours that we spent at Rumtek most meaningful and memorable; we also request our friends in the Sikkim Press Club to join us in highlighting the long neglected issue of landslides in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya so that it may be viewed in the correct perspective at the national and even at the international levels.
The first day's program (01Ju2011) can be viewed here

Two Seminars in Disasters and Landslides (at Gangtok and Guwahati)

Comment by Praful Rao
STH will be attending both the above seminars

Landslides in Pelling (West Sikkim) - 23Jun2011

Pelling in West Sikkim, was a quaint little town, better known for its breath taking views of the  Kanchenjunga ranges, the awesome beauty of the landscape which surrounds it and the numerous waterfalls.
Today, it is a tourist hotspot and as such over the recent years, multi-storey hotels and buildings have mushroomed in the town and so when it had a rather unwelcome visitor recently, people died.

A five hour torrential downpour (from approx 7.30pm to a little past midnight on 23Jun2011) in Pelling and its neighbourhood caused numerous relatively small, landslides in the region which nevertheless resulted in 16 or more deaths and again, the landslides  had a familiar commonality to most of those occurring in this region in the recent past - they were related to or caused by excessive human interference in these mountains.
According to an elder citizen of Pelling, he had not seen anything like this happen for the past 70yrs!

Comment by Praful Rao
The story and photos are from a citizen of Pelling who prefers to remain anonymous.
Also jhoras are natural rivulets or drains which today are a major source of soil erosion in the region since they are charged with large volumes of high velocity surface runoff rainwater  from increasing paved areas as the urban sprawl expands on the crests of mountains.

Landslides in W.Sikkim (23Jun2011)

‘Secure’ house turns graveyard for 14 at Khurong Kewa Dara

Reported By Pratima Rai

GEYZING, June 24: Sixteen persons were killed in multiple slides which broke out in various places of West Sikkim yesterday night due to torrential rainfall between 8:30 pm to 11 pm collapsing the entire inter-district connectivity, power and water supply, said authorities.

            The heaviest death toll was reported from Khurong Kewa Dara along Pelling-Dentam road, some 15 kms away from Geyzing, the District headquarters of West Sikkim where 14 people including an unidentified three months old toddler were buried.

            Two persons were also killed by slides at separate places, Tikjuk and Lower Pelling in West District.

            “Fourteen people were buried when a house in which they had taken shelter at Khurong Kewa Dara collapsed after being hit by a massive slide at around 11:30 pm. Two more persons were killed at other locations by slides”, West District Collector Santa Kumar Pradhan said.

            Pradhan informed that multiple slides which broke out due to heavy rainfall between 8:30 pm and 11:30 pm have virtually collapsed the entire inter-District connectivity along with power and water crises in various parts of the District. Even the District headquarters at Geyzing is suffering from power and water supply problems.

            “We are trying to restore connectivity with the rest of the State by opening the Legship-Gangtok road by evening,” said the District Collector before his mobile went off due to empty battery.

            According to the details pieced from disaster management officials and local volunteers, the heavy casualty at Khurong Kewa Dara took place due to a misplace notion of security among the victims. There are some seven houses in this village and four families living in kutcha houses had taken shelter in a two-storied wooden house belonging to Indra Maya Gurung yesterday night. The house was the only shop in the village.

            “The families who were living in kutcha houses were scared of slides taking place due to heavy rainfall and they had taken shelter in the wooden house considering it to be a secure place. However, a heavy slide peeled off the road above and with boulders and crashed into the house which collapsed”, said disaster managed officer Zigmee Bhutia.

            Eight bodies have been dug out so far, said the official adding the local volunteers, police, fire personnel and other agencies are on the task. If the victims had remained in their houses, they would have survived.                   

           Eleven others had escaped death by either managing to scamper to safety or being a ‘foot away’ when the building crashed under the weight of the slide. Four of them including house owner Indra Maya Gurung have been admitted to District hospital at Geyzing for treatment.

            “The moment I felt that a slide had broken out in the road above, I grabbed my two kids and along with my wife ran away outside. Moments later, the slide came crashing down from 100 feet above the road. The road simply broke off and I felt that a whole hill side was coming down”, said survivor Nima Tamang (23), a Nepal resident who was working as a labourer in the village         Meanwhile at Tikjuk in West Sikkim, a physically challenged woman was killed when she was trying to escape a slide in her village at around the same hour. Deceased Man Maya Subba (55) was running along with her sister from the slide near their house when she was buried in the slide, officials have informed.

            At Lower Pelling, Raj Kumar Thakur, a barber by profession was also killed when his katcha house was hit by a slide, police sources informed. Communications like road, mobile and telephone have been severely crippled in the District due to slides.

Comment by Praful Rao
The fact that 16 people died in the slides indicates that the affected area had a fairly dense population. I have yet to get details of the amount of rainfall or the probable cause of the slides.
What I find perturbing is that  this year landslides are occurring in the first week or two of rains which has been preceded by a long dry spell ie from from Oct2010 till almost now.
My thanks to Sikkim Express for the report and photos.

           

A happy picture for you !

I suppose one needs a break from the depressing weather and grim stories which  spew out  from STH blog during the monsoons.
So here is a happy photograph for you!
SUMI, the largest and one of the oldest schools in Darjeeling district, is celebrating its 125th anniversary. As a part of this and in keeping with  World Environment Day theme this year ("Forests : Nature at your service"), the school undertook planting of over 5,000 tree and vetiver grass saplings at two landslide prone areas of Kalimpong.
On 20Jun2011, almost 700 students of the school planted 2,700 tree saplings at Bhamey gaon in Sindebung, an area which has been repeatedly featured on this blog.
On 23Jun2011, students of the school again planted 2,100 saplings in Lower Bong bustee, a village which has been featured here
I am glad to state that STH was involved with the school in this venture for acquiring the vetiver grass, selection of the areas for plantation and also liaising with the village people.

Praful Rao