10 dead in heavy landslides triggered by rains in Tiuni area
In a major mishap near Chatra village in Tiuni area of Dehradun, 10 Nepali origin people, including 5 women and a minor, were killed and four others injured as heavy boulders fell on their temporary accommodation in the late night hours of Sunday.
Thunderstorm and rains triggered landslide and the 10 people got entrapped in the heavy boulders, which fell on them in Tiuni area, about 150-km from main Dehradun city. After a six-hour operation the police team was successful in bringing them out but 10 of them had died. Out of the deceased five were members of a family. Three belonged to one family and the remaining two were a married couple.
The deceased have been identified as Deepak Bahadur (55), his wife Kumari Devi (45) son Bharat (22) and daughters Sarjana (18) and Kumari Devi (17). While Janak Bahadur (40) was injured his wife Vineet (40), son Jeevan (22) and daughter Babindra (8) died in the mishap. The two others dead were Dhan Bahadur (55) and his wife Dhan Kumari (50).
Janak, who suffered internal injuries, was rushed to Doon hospital, where three others injured Shakti Bahadur (25) Gyan Singh (26) and Khemraj (42) were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. While two others, who were present on the spot, escaped unhurt.
Home minister Pritam Singh, who is also the Congress MLA from Chakrata along with sports minister Dinesh Agarwal and district magistrate Ravi Nath Raman went to the spot to meet the family members and ensure proper medical facilities to the injured.
Pritam Singh said, “A compensation of Rs 4 lakh each has been announced for the family members of the deceased.”
He pointed out that thunderstorm and rains hit the area in late night hours around 2am. “First a tree fell and thereafter there was a landslide and these people were buried beneath it,” said the home minister.
The group of Nepali nationals worked as a labourers for road construction under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. The road on the Chatra route was being constructed. The group had constructed their temporary settlement under a huge boulder. “A big tree got uprooted in the gusty winds and fell heavily on the boulder, and it perhaps triggered the landslide. It was late in the night hours and the labourers did not get any time to react,” added the minister.
