Rockslide on Dimapur-Kohima NH 29 kills 2, injures 3.
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On July 4, tragedy hit the Chümoukedima section of the NH 29 when a rockslide brought on by intense rain took two lives and injured three more.
The terrifying occurrence was caught on camera by a car that was following behind, and the video quickly went viral. Sometime after 5:00 PM, it happened.
According to the video clipping, three automobiles were struck by pebbles that fell from the unstable cliff that overlooked the section of NH 29 near the now-closed Chümoukedima police check-post. Back in August 2011, a "cloud burst" caused the cliff overlooking the checkpost to collapse, burying the roadway and the checkpost in mud and forcing the police to leave the post for a few days. Thankfully, nobody was hurt at that particular time. A couple hundred feet broad was the cliff's impacted section.
As rainwater runoff gushed onto the highway, stopping traffic on that stretch, the victims, including the injured, were in 3 different cars within a line of other stationary cars.
The Chümoukedima district administration reports that one person passed away immediately and the other passed away en route to the hospital.
The two victims who passed away were in separate vehicles. A havildar from the 3rd NAP (IR) named Thanghiu (48 years old), who passed away on the route to the hospital, was among the deceased victims, according to the Dimapur police. Before the other two hit cars, he was in an Alto.
Constable Piming Khiam (42 years old) and a woman named Toiniu were the other two people in his car who suffered injuries, one of them critically (45 years).
Temjennochet, a 55-year-old employee of the Excise Department who was travelling by himself in a Wagon-R, was the other fatality.
The driver and a female passenger were both in the third vehicle. The woman managed to escape with only a slight injury, while the driver managed to survive without any injuries.
CM Rio expresses sympathy and pledges to take swift action to upgrade the safety infrastructure.
The Nagaland Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio, also took to social media to offer condolences to the families of the slain and to pray for the quick recovery of the injured following the disaster on what was hailed as the Narendra Modi government's gift to Nagaland after assuming office in Delhi in 2014.
He continued by saying that the state government was taking all necessary measures to offer emergency services, a Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia payment to each of the deceased, and the required medical care to the injured.
The unusually lengthy message from the CM continued by stating that the location of the tragedy was known for rockfalls and landslides, garnering the moniker "pakala pahar" informally (roughly translated as crazy hill). The PMO, Amit Shah, and Nitin Gadkari were all mentioned.
The CM then boldly asserted, "The State Government would continue to pursue with the GoI & NHIDCL to take prompt actions for safety infrastructure at the risky areas all along the route. It has to do with the health and safety of our population. The relevant agency must set up the necessary safety infrastructure.
He stressed that the government of India should not compromise on guaranteeing the safety of its citizens given the technologies at its disposal.
Police in Dimapur down a section of highway
The Chümoukedima-Kohima route portion of National Highway-29 has been advised against by the Dimapur Police as future rockslides and landslides cannot be ruled out owing to the constant rain and unfavourable weather conditions. As a result, starting immediately and continuing until further notice, all traffic on the aforementioned route will be redirected to the 7th Mile-Shokhuvi-Pimla-Mhainamtsi-Punglwa-Jharnapani and vice versa by-pass routes.