Double trouble for authorities as landslides hamper relief supply to violence-hit Manipur

INDIAN authorities are facing a double whammy as natural calamities have obstructed movement of trucks carrying fuel and other essential items to the north-eastern state of Manipur that has been hit by ethnic violence, police said on Thursday (17), Reuters reported.

More than 80 people have been killed while mammoth destruction of property have happened in the two Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as they have been battered by heavy rains.

Torrential rains, which according to officials are caused by climate change, coupled with reckless construction over the past many years in the Himalayan region have also caused devastating flash floods and landslides in neighbouring Pakistan and Nepal, a landlocked country in the Himalayas.

Reuters cited the police as saying that rocks and mud blocked part of a highway near Imphal, the capital of Manipur which borders Myanmar and lies in the landlocked north-eastern region, following the rains on Wednesday (16), leaving hundreds of trucks stranded.

The police added incessant rain was also hindering efforts to clean up the road.

Authorities in Manipur, which is also ruled by prime minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were trying to bring back peace in the state where more than 180 people have been killed in the disturbance that started in early May and several thousands have lost their homes and are staying in relief camps.

The Modi government has come under heavy criticism over the violence and survived a no-confidence motion initiated by the opposition in the parliament last week.

On Tuesday (15), Modi touched upon Manipur in his opening remark on the occasion of the Independence Day from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi, saying the entire country stood with the state. He also said that peace would prevail in the state.