A high-level meeting, held hours before the 21-day search operation for the landslide victims in Manipur’s Noney district was called off on Wednesday, decided to “revisit” the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and the social impact assessment (SIA) of the Jiribam-Imphal railway project and also build a memorial for the victims of the state’s worst-ever disaster.

As many as nine decisions, taken at the meeting, were incorporated in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in Imphal on Wednesday between the Northeast Frontier Railway, Noney district administration and the Makhuam village authority at the chief minister’s secretariat in presence of chief minister Biren Singh, relief and disaster management minister Awangbou Newmai, and Hill Area Committee chairman Diganglung Gangmei.

The decisions were a follow-up action on the charter of demands submitted by the Makhuam village authority to address issues arising out of the June 30 landslide at the under-construction Tupul railway station yard in Noney district in which 61 of the 79 persons present at the site perished. The bodies of five victims have not yet been found. The dead included 30 Indian Territorial Army personnel and 31 civilians. Eighteen injured were rescued alive.

According to the MoU, EIA and SIA shall be revisited in light of this landslide. Though details were not shared, a railway official told The Telegraph that both the assessment will be done or revisited on the entire 97km Jiribam-Imphal railway stretch, of which the affected Tupal yard is a part, by the railways and the state government in collaboration.

EIA is an exercise undertaken to evaluate the likely positive and negative impact on the immediate environment of a proposed development project. Along with the environment, social and economic impacts will also be identified through such assessment.

The said railway track is passing through a hilly terrain.

SIA, on the other hand, will analyse the social impacts of a proposed development project or policy move, helping in the “design and delivery of developmental interventions” for those impacted.

The Railways will also hold extensive discussions with IIT Guwahati, Manipur University and other like-minded institutions to have a detailed investigation for working out how the hill slopes adjacent to Railway's boundaries in the Jiribam-Imphal project can be better monitored so that early warning can be provided for any future untoward event.

Daichuipao, president of the Rongmei Naga Students’ Organisation Manipur (RNSOM) told The Telegraph that they are satisfied with the steps taken by the government in the meeting. He, however, requested the authorities to include experts with experience in working in the Northeast for at least 15 years and representatives of affected areas while “revisiting” the EIA and SIA.

Both these decisions assume significance because several quarters have expressed concern over frequent landslides in the hill areas of Manipur and there are demands for a landslide early warning system to minimise deaths and destruction.

Another important decision was to build a memorial for the landslide victims. The site will be identified jointly by the Railways, district administration and the village authority. However, construction will start only after the stabilisation of the landslide-hit area and the removal of debris.

Details of the scale and design of the memorial and other decisions will be worked out soon, officials said.

The MoU was signed by chief engineer, NFR Sandeep Sharma on behalf of the Railways, Noney district deputy commissioner Haulianlal Guite and Makhuam village authority chairman Lanranglung Gondaimei.

The other decisions in the MoU included:

• Until permanent employment could be provided to the next of kin, the Railways would ensure providing contractual employment at one of its construction agencies near the affected site.
• The Railways with Noney/Kangpokpi district administration and the village authority shall jointly survey and assess the extent of the damage and submit the same to railways for compensation.
• Railways to provide for the funeral expenses that may be incurred in the customary rites of burial of villagers and cleansing by the Makhuam village authority.
• The three children orphaned by the landslide will be provided educational fees which will be deposited in the respective bank accounts of the next of kin of the victims so that their education may continue uninterrupted till graduation. The children will be put up in the Rengpang Residential School for now.

The chief minister while thanking everyone involved in the search operation said the operation was called off “only after a thorough discussion” with all stakeholders who held a meeting at the Noney DC office on Tuesday. The search was called off on Wednesday evening.

“However, individual efforts to retrieve the missing properties, machinery etc could still be carried on by any organisation or agency. The official number of deceased in the landslide was 61. The state government would take all necessary steps to help affected families and injured persons,” Singh said.

He met with all the stakeholders before the signing of the MoU on Wednesday.

Singh had earlier announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 to the injured.