IMPHAL, Aug 2 - The Manipur government has announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia each for the victims of landslide and flood following an emergency council of ministers meeting with state chief minister O Ibobi Singh in the chair today.
The government�s council of ministers� meeting in Imphal also decided to ask the deputy commissioners of the concerned districts to submit flood and landslide affected reports within two weeks.
Meanwhile, even as the death toll of landslide that took place at Joumol, a remote village in Chandel district bordering Myanmar was said to be 20 as per first information local source on Saturday, the state authority is yet to ascertain the actual number of casualty till the filing of this report.
A state government source when contacted said they are yet to ascertain the actual number of deaths as the village is located in a remote and non-motorable location, about 180 km south of Imphal. But steps are on to ascertain the official figures. The state disaster team is yet to reach the landslide hit Joumol village due to a number of landslides on their way.
However, according to the village chief of Joumol, Robert Hamlet Paite (47)who was rescued along with two others � Shekhow Paite (37) and Thongmang Paite (40) by Assam Rifles in the ongoing search and rescue operation on Sunday, there were 18 persons in 10 houses when the landslide took place in his village on Saturday around 8 am. So far 6 villagers out of 18 have been rescued while 4 bodies recovered by combined team of Assam Rifles and NDRF. Thus 8 are still missing, Assam Rifles sources said.
Beside the Joumol village victims, three persons including one 60-year-old farmer, a youth and a class XII student were also reportedly killed after they were swept away by flood water in Thoubal, Chandel and Churachandpur district, sources said.
However, the flood water in and around Thoubal district sector of Indo-Myanmar road and low-lying areas in capital Imphal, besides its outskirts have also been receding slowly. On the other hand, Moreh, the commercial border town about 110 km south of here has been cut off from Imphal since last three days due to a number of landslides along the hill section of Imphal-Moreh route, sources added.
The Manipur irrigation and flood control department has opened flood control rooms while the locals with the help of MLAs have set up many relief camps and medical camps to help the flood-hit villagers.
