TURA: Five people, including an entire family, have been killed in two separate landslide incidents in Tura triggered by incessant rains which lashed many parts of Garo Hills since Monday night. Tragedy struck the home of the Chettri’s at Nakham Bazaar at 6:20 on Tuesday morning when the storm was at its peak. Huge tons of mud and boulders came crashing down from the above cliffs completely destroying the home. Mother Pinky Chettri (34), a widow, along with her three children – sons Bijoy (19) and Rohan (11) and daughter Priya (15) – could not make it out to safety and were buried alive beneath the mudslide. Their bodies were retrieved by locals and emergency workers. Eldest son Bijoy reportedly tried to rescue his younger siblings when the first cave in took place, according to neighbours who shared the same premises on rent. Hearing their cries for help, the eldest son had rushed back inside when a second wave of landslide came crashing down burying him alive with his mother and younger siblings. Daughter Priya was studying in Gorkha High School. They had moved into the ill-fated house less than six months ago. Another casualty occurred in Akonggre locality of the town in which a retired policeman, Chotelal Prasad (70), lost his life after sustaining injuries caused by a landslide. Chotelal Prasad was severely injured after boulders fell on his house and was rushed to Tura Civil Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. In the light of the twin tragedies the district administration has announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs.4 lakh for each of the victims who died in Tuesday’s tragedy at Tura. Apart from Tura, the storm caused extensive damage to the East Garo Hills road linking Tura at Samanda. A sub-way near Samanda Market which was being used for vehicular traffic got washed away in the morning storm halting movement of all vehicles. A temporary arrangement has been made over the new RCC bridge to allow small vehicles to ply through while work gets underway to restore the sub-way by early Wednesday morning. Barring Tura, no untoward incidents have been reported from the rest of the four districts of Garo Hills due to the thunderstorm. This is the second major incident of human loss caused by landslides in Tura in the last few years. On July 27, 2007, a similar incident occurred across the Rongkhon river bank in Nakham Bazar, less than a km away from the site of Tuesday’s incident, in which boulders came crashing down from 200 feet above onto a house at Rishipara locality that was housing several dozen families. The landslide at Rishipara crushed human dwellings and pushed an entire section of the house into the river which was in spate sweeping the inhabitants away. Eight people, including three little children, were killed in that tragedy. In both cases, unregulated earth cutting along sides of cliffs is believed to be the main reason behind the landslides. With Tuesday’ landslide resulting in the death of five persons in Tura in West Garo Hills, the death toll owing to natural calamities in the State has risen to 13. An official statement said on Tuesday that due to incessant heavy rain, landslides occurred in some places of East Jaintia Hills and East Khasi Hills districts resulting in the loss of three lives in East Khasi Hills and four in East Jaintia Hills during the past week. In another incident, one person died and five others were injured due to lightning strike in South West Garo Hills District. Ex-gratia payment to the next of kin of the deceased persons as per the norms is being made by the respective deputy commissioners, the government added. Task force to ensure Tura’s preparedness for disaster management The West Garo Hills district administration has constituted a task force for preparedness for disaster management within Tura Municipality areas. Donbosh N. Sangma, Chairman of Tura Municipal Board has been named chairman of the task force, while Grithalson Arengh, Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Board has been named as co-chairman. Z. J. Sangma, CEO, Tura Municipal Board is the member-secretary & convener of the task force that also has eight members. The mandate and the terms of reference for the task force will be to conduct safety audit of buildings within Tura Municipality areas and to conduct survey or estimation on the number of buildings that have been flouting the building by-laws. The task force will suggest ways and means to take corrective steps in town planning and compliance of building by-laws and would also look into the drainage system in the entire Tura town and propose corrective steps. Apart from this, the task force will organise consultative meetings with the development committees of various localities and seek their active cooperation in times of any disaster situation and would also coordinate with various line departments, the district administration and the State Government in times of disasters.