Dimapara (South Garo Hills), Oct 8: The village of Atisia Songmong in a remote corner of South Garo Hills continues to wear a pall of gloom as the villagers are yet to come to terms with the loss of a family with seven members in the blink of an eye, many of whom were their friends and relatives.

The village is inaccessible through a road, the only way to reach it being a 2-kilometer hike through partially deluged fields, uprooted trees and meters of loose soil from landslides spilled onto the pathway by the heavy rains last week.

But a determined Conrad K Sangma, the Chief Minister of the State, on Tuesday walked through all the challenges to meet the remaining immediate kins of the family which lost to the nature’s fury on Friday, last week.

Only two members of the family survived – Watison Marak, the eldest son living just across the river, and Baseng Momin, the son-in-law who tragically lost both his wife and their one-and-a-half-year-old son. The death toll could have easily risen to eight or would have been much less but fate had other plans.

Baseng and his wife, holding their toddler son, were outside the house minutes before the disaster struck, and so was 60-year-old Silje R Marak, the matriarch of the family. Upon seeing the soil from the hill behind their home begin to shift in the morning, his wife instinctively ran inside to alert others and so did the matriarch. But, they never made it back.

The huge chunk of the hill came crashing down on the house like lightening, leaving Baseng and his family very little time to even move, much less escape. All Baseng could do was helplessly see his entire family and the entire house sink into the ground, like it never existed in the blink of an eye.

Despite the heavy rain, the nearby villagers rushed over but it was already too late. The village is sparsely populated with few houses and afar.

By the time search and rescue teams arrived, it was already few hours, with little hope. The operation took almost 3 days to pull out all the 7 bodies from the rubble; one can only image the amount of mud and soil that crushed the house and the difficulty of the terrain.

Knowing these challenges and the trauma Baseng and Watison Marak went through, CM Conrad knew he could do nothing except provide a small comfort – which was to lend his shoulder to cry on. But sometimes even those few moments of solace can turn into life-changing moments.

These intense emotional moments also brought a sheen of tears to the eyes of the CM and left him feeling slightly numb. Even so, he comforted them, assuring all the help he can to rebuild their lives.

He handed over ex-gratia of five victims to Watison Marak and for remaining two victims to Baseng Momin.

Meghalaya government is providing an ex-gratia amount of Rs. 4 lakhs for the loss of each life.

He also took part in a prayer ceremony held for the victims at the village and also heard the grievances of the people. He assured that the government will ensure that restoration of road and electricity in the village, which falls under Gasuapara, will be expedited.

A total of 40 villages in 3 blocks of South Garo Hills have been impacted by the natural calamities, affecting a population of 2510 in 462 households.

Prior to coming to Atisia Songmong, the Chief Minister held a review with the District Administration of South Garo Hills in Dimapara to evaluate the relief measures and inspect the damages caused by flash floods and landslides in the district.

The chief minister stressed on the need for flood management initiatives and flood survey to prevent loss to precious lives and property. He also directed officials to undertake repair works on priority and ensure all assistance to affected residents.

Read: Meghalaya Govt to relocate vendors from Khyndailad by November: Paul Lyngdoh

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