Jeypore: Efforts continued to pull out the bodies of two JCB operators caught in a major landslide at Bariput village, while the revenue divisional commissioner (RDC) for southern division Temjen Wapang Ao visited the spot Tuesday to take stock of the latest situation.
Two JCB operators, Ghanashyam Guru of Deogarh and Sanjay Dash of Athagarh area in Cuttack district were engaged in the work of removing earth and boulders for the ongoing Telengiri Irrigation project near Bariput village when a portion of the hill caved in around 5pm May 31.
The district administration had started rescue operations the next day with the help of the disaster response team of the state government and local fire tenders. The boulders that fell on the two weighed upto 20-50 tonnes, too heavy to be moved without use ofheavy machinery. As efforts failed, the Army’s engineering team was summoned from Ranchi June 6. It felt the only way forward was to blast the mines.
The district administration soon evicted locals from a radius of one km from the site, and clamped ban orders to restrict entry of people to the area under Section 144.
The Army located the body of one victim June 10, but it could not be recovered. Efforts continued Tuesday to drill the boulder and recover the body. Rain hampered the operations for two more days.
RDC Temjen had a meeting with the Koraput collector and SP. He also met senior district officials at the circuit house at the district headquarters. Former chief minister Giridhar Gamang had visited the site June 9.
PNN