Dimapur | August 13 : A multiple series of landslides between Patkai Bridge and Jharnapani cut off road communication between Dimapur and Kohima on Saturday, August 13. The landslides (mud and rock combined) were triggered by the heavy torrential rains which lashed the plains and the adjoining hills of Dimapur early Saturday morning. Chumukedima Police check post was badly damaged and went out of service as loose rock and mud from the overhanging cliff enveloped the entire stretch of the check post, save some houses and the sleeping quarters of the police personnel. The affected portion above the periphery of the checkpost ran some few hundred feet across.
According to information received no loss of lives were reported till evening. Some two-wheelers and a car belonging to the personnel stationed there were partially or completely buried under the rubble of earth. One residential home built on the edge of the highway towards Chathe River was flushed away.
According to some police personnel there, the slides began at around 4:00 am.
Fortunately for the personnel, shopkeepers and other residents included, they were already awake and getting ready for the day ahead when rumbling sounds from the cliff above were heard. The post was abandoned, the people running to safer locations.
The landslides, ranging from small to massive, affected as many as twenty portions of the stretch of NH-29 falling between Jharnapani and Chumukedima, not including those on the opposite bank of the river. The slush generated measured ankle to waist high, making it almost impossible for people to cross on foot. The PHE pipeline running parallel to the highway on the other side of the river was also badly damaged as was seen from the road.
Travelers coming from Kohima said that in between Jharnapani and the checkpost alone, the affected portions stood at more than ten. The slides were active till afternoon in as many as two sections on that portion of the highway.
GREF workers were struggling to clear the road till late in the afternoon. In addition to the labour force, three bulldozers were pressed into service. Clearing the road for vehicular traffic will take atleast one more day i.e. until Sunday, it was said.
The department Geology & Mining had only recently published a report according to which there are 96 active and 84 potential landslides between Chumukedima and Kohima. The powers that be also need to seriously think on shifting the police check post to a safer location, if they really are concerned with the safety of the policemen stationed there.
