Noney landslide: Makhuam villagers living in constant fear
Source: Chronicle News Service / Oinam Mission

Imphal, August 11 2022: The massive landslide, which occurred on the intervening night of June 29 and 30 at Makhuam village in Noney district, is reckoned as the worst ever landslide with highest number of fatalities, that have ever struck the state.

However, the life of the residents of Makhuam village continues to be heavily affected due to the tragedy.

The landslide swept away the Tupul railway substation yard, which was under construction at the time, along with five villagers of Makhuam village, railway staff, labourers and personnel of Territorial Army stationed at the area as security, leaving 51 people dead and several others injured.

Apart from the tragedy that unfolded, the life of the villagers residing near the landslide site has not been spared as their sources of livelihood have been affected.

In addition, there is the fear of another possible landslide occurring in the area.

The villagers are aware that the land slide is a natural disaster like flood brought on by incessant rain.

There have been landslides and mudslide incidents in the state over the years, albeit not as tragic as Makhuam village in Marangching range.

As per the records of Ministry of Environment, Manipur experienced 14 landslides in the last decade, with four occurring in 2010, one in 2015, three in 2017 and six major landslides in 2018.Meanwhile, a report of the Department of Environment and Climate Change has analysed about the rainfall received by Noney district in the last decade.

In 2013, Noney received around 1035.4 mm of rainfall; in 2014 around 821.0 mm; in 2015 around 1009.0 mm; in 2016 around 424.4 mm; in 2017 around 933.6 nun; in 2018, around 1112.0 nun; in 2019 around 1262.6 nun; in 2020 around 1394.7 mm, and in 2012, around 910.8 mm.

For the ongoing year, the district received around 848.9 mm of rainfall till the month of July.

Speaking to The People s Chronicle, Makhuam Village Thoubei (customary court) secretary Guwachalung Gangmei recounted that the tragedy claimed 5 members of the village and it not only continues to affect the surviving families of the victims, but also the normal life of the village.

The slope surface, which went down with the landslide, was previously used by the locals for banana farming, animal husbandry, jhum cultivation (Pam-Lou) and other types of agriculture crops.

However, their sources of livelihood have been cut off by the incident and the villagers are left in fear of another major landslide occurring in the area.

Expressing hope that the railway authority would carry out their works while considering the difficulties faced by the villagers; the secretary urged for compensating the victims' families and the affected villagers.

He also urged for a resurvey of the area, while keeping the environmental and social impact in mine.

A memorandum containing the above and other requests has already been submitted to the railway authority by the village authority, he conveyed.

A Makhuam villager, named, Paochalung Kamei (78) also talked with this daily and he recounted that the villagers had been engaging in jhum cultivation and growing different crops.

There had been no landslides in the area over the last 80 years, making the Marangching tragedy the first of its kind.

As such, it is suspected that the tragedy could have been caused due to carelessness in taking up the railway project, he said while urging the authority concerned to redress the suffering of the affected villagers.

TPC then talked with a student from the village who contended that the landslide was caused by the railway project disturbing the natural state of the hill due to usage of bombs for tunnelling and steep clearance of the slopes.

Thus, he wished for the authority to be more careful while continuing the project so as to prevent any future tragedies.

Meanwhile, Department of Environment and Climate Change deputy director T Brajakumar stressed the need for assessing the environment impact including the state of the soil, type and level of forest density before taking up any such huge railway project.

The environment impact assessment should be done at least three times i.e., pre-project, after implementation and post-project.

Additionally, an environmental management plan should be prepared to assess the situation from time to time, while also making the public aware of the same.

Brajakumar further said that incessant rainfall is another factor, adding that 100 mm of rainfall is already quite high, but Noney district received around 375.6 mm of rain in May and 329.9 mm in June.

The high rainfall and the water absorption level of the soil cause the slope to destabilise, which was further accented by the tremors due to the usage of bombs for tunnelling projects, he conveyed.

To be precise, the huge impact in the natural ecosystem of the hill and slowed healing process could not match with the speed of the railway project, causing an imbalance between destruction and the natural healing process.

However, the most important matter is that as a massive landslide had occurred, there is a huge probability of future occurrences.

As such, there is need for a vulnerable mapping at the earliest and relocating the villages and people living in vulnerable areas to a safer zone, Brajakumar asserted.

On the other hand, according to Manipur Remote Sensing Applications Centre (MAR-SAC), the site of Marangching landslides lies in the area surrounding the epicentre of the 6.7 Richter scale earthquake, which occurred on January 4, 2016.Even now, the area has two huge lineaments which could lead to more landslides at any given time.

Additionally, the forest area at the site of Maranching landslide was sparse.

If the area had dense forest, the roots of the trees could have held the soil better and prevented the tragedy.

Nonetheless, as there is a huge lineament in the area, the tunnelling works for the railway project should be monitored and done more carefully.

Meanwhile, the joint survey report of Manipur University, Geoconsult India and Directorate of Environment and Climate Change experts gave fours reasons which caused the Marangching landslide.

First, as the western hill ranges of Manipur have loose soil, it could not withstand the gravitational pressure after the slopes were cut down for the railway project and road construction.

Secondly, the incessant rain received by the state, particularly by Noney district in the month of May and June, raised the groundwater level and decreased the soil strength, leading to detachment of the entire slope.

Thirdly, Manipur lies in High Seismic Zone-V and the landslide site is located close to the epicentre of the 2016 earthquake.

As such, many cracks were observed in the cut slopes at the side, which could have triggered the landslide.

And lastly, the soil erosion process at Marangching was accelerated due to deforestation, jhum cultivation, banana cultivation, leading to the occurrence of the landslide.

The survey report also made some recommendations, which include reassessment of the strength of the slopes to be cut down for the Jiribam-Tupul railway line; regular drone survey and setting up an automatic weather station along Jiribam-Tupul route to monitor the weather.

On top of this, the report suggested using web-enabled equipment for close monitoring in real time and implementation of technologies or ideas compatible with the natural environment, while cutting down the slopes.

It may be mentioned here that climate change is a huge issue which is threatening the very existence of human civilisation.

Different constructions being done in the name of development have heavily affected the natural system.

Thus, there is the need to come up with ways to ensure that any development work does not affect the natural ecosystem but instead is able to co-exist with one another.

As such, the railway project in Manipur should be taken up with close consideration vis a vis the natural environment and ecosystem of the state.

(This news article has been written as part of the 3rd State Level Media Fellowship on Climate Change Reporting of the Directorate of Environment and Climate Change) .

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