Imphal, July 20: The search and rescue operation at the Tupul district site in Manipur’s Noney district will be called off on Wednesday evening. The decision to call off the search and rescue operation was taken at a meeting of all stakeholders convened by the district administration on Tuesday.
Of the 79 people present at the under-construction Tupul railway station yard in Noney at the time of the landslide, 18 were rescued. Till Sunday, 56 bodies had been found. The dead included 29 Indian Territorial Army personnel and 27 civilians.
Five people are still missing in the landslide described by Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh as the “worst-ever” in the history of the state.
A preliminary assessment report of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) pointed out that the recent landslide at the Tupul Railway Station in Noney district of Manipur that claimed several lives was caused by an extensive and unprotected slope cut for the construction of the 110-km Imphal-Jiribam railway project.
The area where the landslide occurred is a ‘highly susceptible zone’ as per the National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping (NLSM) of 2019, said the report.
Some other factors that triggered the landslides include dumping of debris which limited the normal water flow of the Ijai river, dumping of unconsolidated materials used for temporary constructions and improper hillside drainage along the slope, the report noted.
