Gangtok, Oct 4: The devastating flash floods in Sikkim in the wee hours of Wednesday, triggered by a cloud-burst which led to the swelling of river Teesta, has claimed at least 10 lives, all of whom are civilians. As of Wednesday evening, the Sikkim government has reported 82 individuals missing.
In addition, over 3000 tourists are feared to be stranded in different parts of the State. 12-14 workers working in Teesta Stage 3 dam in Chungthang are still stranded in the tunnels of the dam.
Further, 14 bridges have been confirmed to have collapsed with 9 of them being under Border Roads Organization (BRO) and 5 bridges under the State government.
Injuries and persons missing have been reported from Chungthang in Mangan district, and Dikchu, Singtam in Gangtok district and Rangpo in Pakyong district. 26 people have been reportedly injured and rushed to the hospitals.
Meanwhile, 22 Army personnel in Bardang are still missing. They had a convoy vehicle which was parked adjacent to the highway which got submerged in the sludge.
To augment the search and rescue efforts, Sikkim government has asked for 3 extra platoons of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which the central government has approved. There is one platoon of NDRF already in service in Rangpo and Singtam towns. One of the NDRF platoons being rushed to the Himalayan State will be airlifted to Chungthang for rescue operations.
Similarly, food and civil supplies will be taken to Chungthang once the weather improves for air connectivity. To import necessities from Siliguri, Bailey bridges will be laid by Indian Army and NHIDCL, informed the State Chief Secretary. Even the police station in Chungthang has been destroyed.
Chungthang and most of North Sikkim have disrupted mobile network connection due to fibre cable lines also being destroyed by the flash-floods in Sangkalan and Toong in Mangan district.
The State government has set up 18 relief camps in Singtam, Rangpo, Dikchu and Adarsh Gaon which have faced most of the damages.
