Four persons were killed and three others are feared dead in a massive landslide on National Highway 66 near Shirur village in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district on Tuesday, officials said.
Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said the seven persons include four members of a family.
A police officer told PTI, ”We have recovered four bodies so far, including that of 47-year-old Lakshman Naik and his 36-year-old wife Shanti Naik who were running an eatery on National Highway 66.
Search operations are underway to trace others who are feared dead.” The others who are feared dead are Roshan (11), Avantika (6), and Jagannath (55), the minister’s office said in a statement.
Police sources said parts of a hill collapsed on the road-side eatery.
Gowda told the legislative assembly that drivers of three gas tankers had stopped at the eatery for a tea break when mud and rocks plunged down the hill.
The landslide, triggered by incessant rains, also swept away two of the the three tankers into the Gangavali river flowing on other side of the road.
Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada district K Lakshmi Priya ordered that villagers be shifted from Shirur, fearing untoward incidents in the event of the explosion of the gas tankers which fell into the river.
She said that along with the villagers living near the lake, river and hills, their livestock too should be shifted to safer places till the rains stop, the rivers in spate return to normal and the rain-fed rivulets recede.
Local police, along with National Disaster Response Force personnel and other agencies, are carrying out rescue operations amid the rains, sources said.
Following the incident, vehicular traffic on the road has been suspended.
“Four members of a family who ran the ’dhaba’ and three drivers might have died. (A total of) seven people are suspected to have been killed,” Minister Gowda said. “The body of a woman has been found floating in the river,” he added.
“Since the loaded gas tankers in the river can be dangerous, people from the BPCL and HPCL are attending to it,” Gowda said.
Gowda said that on the directions of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the district in charge minister, Mankal S Vaidya, has rushed to the spot.
The minister alleged that the National Highways Authority of India, while building National Highway 66, ”cut the hill steep instead of at a 45-degree slope, and this resulted in the accident.” He added, “Last year in July I went there. I had received a complaint against NHAI. I had then written to NHAI to rectify the design. NHAI is a central body that doesn’t respond on time,” he alleged.
“Discussions with the National Highway Authority officials will be held today itself. Additionally, a letter will be sent through the Chief Secretary of the Government,” the minister added.
After the incident, senior police officers and Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada district Lakshmi Priya visited the scene.
According to officials, it might take more than 24 hours to clear the mud lying on the road as rains are hindering the operation.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has announced a compensation of Rs five lakh each for the next of kin of those killed in the landslide.
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