The death toll in the massive landslide at Tupul, in Noney district of Manipur, on Thursday has increased to 21, officials sources said.
13 bodies were recovered on Friday. Officials said that over 50 bodies are believed to be buried under the debris.
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren, who visited the devastation site on Friday for the second time, said that a sophisticated machine would arrive shortly from Ladakh that would help retrieve missing bodies.
The State government had announced an ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh each for the family members of the deceased and ₹50,000 each for the family members of the injured.
The rescued victims had been admitted to the Public Health Centre, Tupul. However, three persons who had developed health complications were rushed to Imphal for better treatment.
Officials said that rescue teams are finding it difficult to reach the areas as vehicles cannot ply along the slippery and muddy hill roads. Search operations were suspended the whole night as there was no electricity in Tupul areas.
The bodies found on Friday were of ten Army personnel and a railway employee. At least five tribal villagers are missing. Workers are trying to dig out upper portions of the debris, which has blocked the flow of water in Ijei river, to prevent flooding of low lying villages.
The landslide has raised serious questions about the advisability of completing the railway lines connecting Manipur to Jiri station in Assam. The entire rail line will be located in the hills. The Manipur hills are of loose earth and rains always trigger landslides and mud slides, disrupting vehicle traffic on State and national highways.
