Another landslip occurs in Darjeeling even as people return home from relief shelters

DARJEELING: Another landslip occurred in Darjeeling district even as people are returning home from relief camps where they had taken shelter following landslides since July 1 which claimed lives of 40 people.

Disaster management department officials today said the landslip occurred near Kalijhora last evening but there was no house in that spot and no casualty or injury was reported.

Meanwhile, people who had taken shelter in the three relief camps in Tingling and Lamagaon villages following the landslides are gradually returning home, the officials said.

Around 200-250 families have been sheltered in those camps and now only those whose houses have been completely destroyed are staying in the camps, they said.

The Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) has informed the central government about the damages in the three hill subdivisions of the district - Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong - caused by the landslides, said Kalimpong MLA and GTA member Harkha Bahadur Chhetri.

Around 400 houses have either been damaged or destroyed in the disaster, Chhetri said.

GTA chief Bimal Gurung yesterday called up West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had visited the landslide affected areas, to provide an update on the disaster.

The state government is also conducting an assessment of the landslide-battered districts and the report would be sent to the Centre.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, also visited Darjeeling after the landslides.