Rain triggers landslides inside compound of Assam governor's house

GUWAHATI: Incessant rain triggered landslides inside the compound of the Assam governor's house on Saturday. No injuries were reported in the incident.
Assam chief secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna convened an emergency meeting to review the situation at the Raj Bhavan. The vulnerability of other landslide-prone areas in the city were also discussed.
A 72-year-old woman had died and two others were injured in landslides in the Kahilipara area of Guwahati on Friday. On Saturday, landslides were also reported from the western part of the city.
Sources in the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Kamrup (Metropolitan) said that the public works department (PWD) is working on a war-footing to restore the portion at the back of the Raj Bhavan campus where the landslides took place. But the incident led to an evacuation in a nursing home which is located close to Raj Bhavan in the Kharghuli area of the city.
"Incessant rainfall for the last few days caused the landslides. The guard wall of the Raj Bhavan at that part is in such a vulnerable position that it may fall at any time and may cause damage to the lives and properties of the patients, doctors, paramedical staff of Borthakur Clinic & Hospital which is situated just below the Raj Bhawan," stated Kamrup (Metropolitan) deputy commissioner Biswajit Pegu in an order issued on Saturday.
The deputy commissioner, as the chairman of the DDMA, Kamrup (Metropolitan), asked the proprietor of Borthakur Clinic & Hospital to vacate the hospital building immediately. "The patients, who are undergoing treatment in the hospital, are to be shifted to a nearby hospital with immediate effect," read the order issued by the DC. Senior officials of police and administration rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.
In an appeal issued by the deputy commissioner, citizens living in the landslide-prone areas of the district have been urged to vacate their houses. "Due to incessant rainfall for last few days in Guwahati city, several landslides have occurred, leading to loss of precious life and property. Moreover, there is every possibility of occurrence of more such incidents in the coming days because of the heavy rainfall," the DC warned.