Shillong, Oct 6: Ever since the heavy rains began to cause devastation in Garo Hills since Thursday, it has been a non-stop challenge for the rescue agencies to reach and rescue citizens from the various locations that have suffered landslides, mudslides and floods.

Sunday was no different with the rains already leaving behind a long trail of destruction after over 3 days of incessant rains that pushed many rivers in the region to breach their danger marks and flood villages. It can be considered a colossal day for the search & rescue agencies in the state as they managed to retrieved 8 bodies in the day, probably the highest in its history due to a natural calamity.

In the morning hours, the SDRF with the help of local villagers retrieved the bodies of 44-year-old Bijoy S Sangma, a teacher by profession, and his son, 13-year-old Wian Chigado Marak, from the low-lying areas of Sonagre Village in Dimapara, in West Garo Hills. The duo was returning from school on Friday evening when they encountered a flooded road below the Dimapara bridge due to a swelled-up Bugai River. While attempting to cross the flooded road, their car was washed away by the flood waters.

Another major search operation that is still underway is in Atisia Songmong village under Gasuapara Block in South Garo Hills, where a family of seven members was buried by a landslide on Friday morning.

After non-stop operation of over 48 hours, 6 of the 7 bodies buried in the landslide were recovered on Sunday afternoon.

The family was inside their house when a section of the hill behind their house came crashing down on the house on Friday morning due to the heavy rainfall, leaving them no chance to escape. The entire house got buried in the tonnes of soil from the hill.

After intense operation involving over 80 people, with the combined efforts of NDRF, SDRF, Meghalaya Police, BSF and locals for over 2 days, 3 bodies were retrieved at around 1.30 PM on Sunday. By evening, another 3 bodies were pulled out from the debris.

However, one body remained missing till the filing of this report.

The six persons whose bodies have been retrieved are: Deshrang R Marak (14 yrs Male), Dimse R Marak (1.5 yrs Female), Chengbe R Marak (22 yrs Female), Silbera R Marak (5 yrs Female), Sama N Sangma (50 yrs Male), and Merina R Marak (39 yrs Female).

Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma and MLAs Sengchim N Sangma and Kartush Marak also visited the landslide area on Sunday at Atisia Songmong village under Gasuapara in South Garo Hills.

Overall, 15 people have lost their lives in the 3 days of heavy rains in the Garo Hills region with West Garo Hills accounting for 5 deaths, South Garo Hills – 7 deaths, and East Garo Hills reporting 3 deaths.

5 people have also sustained severe injuries during the same period.

Meanwhile, an ex-gratia of Rs,12,00,000 has been released for the 3 deceased at Dalu, West Garo Hills District.

Also, a total of 13 relief camps have been set up in West and South West Garo Hills. 8 temporary relief camps have been set up in West Garo Hills District and relief provided for 1589 families with basic needs- food, water, shelter & clothes; 5 temporary relief camps set up in South West Garo Hills.

Overall, 218 villages, 633 Households, and 8377 people have been affected the heavy rains and landslides in the entire Garo Hills region.

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