20-year-old woman dies, five others injured in landslide in Alluri Sitharama Raju district

Tragic landslide in Chatrapalli village leaves one dead, five injured; ITDA Paderu authorities provide relief and assistance.

A 20-year-old woman died, while five others suffered fractures in a landslide that occurred at Chatrapalli village in Galikonda Panchayat in GK Veedhi mandal, an interior hamlet around 90 km from Paderu, in Alluri Sitharama Raju district. The incident occurred during the early hours of Monday, when the tribals were asleep.

As per the tribals, five of them had gone missing after the landslide struck their village. However, they were traced after some hours of search in the dark. Body of the woman was also retrieved by the early morning. Almost all the houses, clothes and cattle sheds were completely washed away leaving the tribals in a pitiable condition. The villages hid themselves in a house belonging to a tribal named Guru Murthy, which is located on the outskirts of the village, said a tribal releasing a video message, urging the District Collector to rescue them on Monday morning.

The Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) Paderu authorities have rushed to the spot and shifted 35 families comprising around 120 people to an Ashram School at Sapparla area. The injured were shifted to Primary Health Centre at Sapparla.

After coming to know about the incident, the ITDA authorities have tried to rush to the spot. However, they were forced to stop due to the road being cut-off at G.K Veedhi with the overflowing of streams.

District Collector A.S. Dinesh Kumar has announced an ex gratia of ₹5 lakh to the family members of Korra Kumari, the landslide victim. He also said that the injured, K. Pandanna (60), K. Sumitra (18) and K. Subba Rao (25), are being provided advanced treatment and at present, their condition is said to be stable.

Scores of villages and interior tribal hamlets have been cut off as streams overflowed on roads at various places in the 11 mandals under ITDA Paderu region. As per the ITDA authorities, there are 50 such points disconnecting the villages from the headquarters in 11 mandals. Barricades were arranged at those points to prevent public movement.

ITDA Project Officer V. Abhishek said that a major road between G.K Veedhi and Sileru connecting Odisha and Chattisgarh was cut-off and it also caved in at multiple places. This apart, another important Darakonda ghat road was also badly damaged.