Sikkim flash flood: Toll rises to 22, searches on for 103 missing people

GANGTOK: On day three after a flash flood wreaked havoc in Sikkim's Teesta basin, the number of bodies recovered from the river and mud embankments downstream rose to 22, including seven army men.

Of the 23 army personnel who had gone missing from Bardang area, the bodies of seven have been recovered from different areas downstream while one army man had been rescued alive earlier and the search for the remaining is continuing both in Sikkim and north Bengal through which Teesta river flows, said Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang on Friday.

Of the seven deceased army personnel, four have been identified. They are Gopal Maddi of Binnaguri military station, Naik Bhavani Singh Chouhan of 64 Brigade, Bengdubi, Naik N G Prasad and Bimal Oraon of Madhubagan in Alipurduar, according to official records.

The bodies were recovered from the Teesta river basin and its tributaries in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts and Siliguri area of Darjeeling district in the northern part of West Bengal, which shares border with the Himalayan state.

Of the 22 deceased, 15 have been identified as men, six as women while the gender of another body could not be ascertained as it was mangled.

A total of 103 people, including the 15 jawans, remained missing after a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim in the early hours of Wednesday triggered the flash flood.

So far, 2,411 people trapped due to the flash floods have been evacuated, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) said in its latest bulletin.

Altogether 7,644 people displaced by the floods have been sheltered at 26 relief camps in four affected districts.

The Sikkim CM visited flood-affected areas in Rangpo town in Pakyong district and interacted with the displaced people lodged in relief camps. He assured them of all possible assistance.

Tamang, in an interview to PTI Video, said that the state incurred damages worth thousands of crores of rupees in the floods.

"There have been damages worth thousands of crores of rupees. We cannot give exact details about damages, it will be revealed once a committee is formed and it completes its analysis. Our first priority is to save those who are stranded and provide them immediate relief," he said.

"Road connectivity between districts have been cut off and bridges have been washed away. Communication in North Sikkim has been severely affected," the CM said.

Tamang said around 25,000 people have been hit by the natural calamity.

The CM said that he has spoken with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and President Droupadi Murmu and other Union ministers.

"They have assured me that all necessary assistance will be provided to the state," he said.

Shah has approved the release of Rs 44.8 crore as an advance amount from the central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to Sikkim to provide relief to flash floods-affected people.

Following a directive from Shah, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has formed an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), which will visit the affected areas of Sikkim soon to make an assessment of the damage caused due to a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), cloudburst and flash floods, according to an official statement.

The flash flood in the Teesta River, triggered by the cloudburst in Lhonak Lake, caused accumulation of huge quantity of water, which turned towards Chungthang Dam destroying the power infrastructure before moving downstream in spate flooding towns and villages.

The flood destroyed 13 bridges in the state, with eight bridges getting washed away in Mangan district alone. Three bridges were destroyed in Gangtok and two in Namchi.

Of the civilian deaths, six were reported in Gangtok, and four each in Mangan and Pakyong.

A total of 103 people were missing after the incident. Of them, 59 were reported missing in Pakyong, 22 in Gangtok, 17 in Mangan and five in Namchi.

Chungthang town bore the maximum brunt of the flood with 80 per cent of it getting severely affected. The NH-10, considered the lifeline of the state, sustained extensive damage at several places.

Meanwhile, the search for the remaining 15 missing army personnel is underway downstream near Teesta barrage.

At the site of the incident in Bardang, army vehicles have been dug out and stores were recovered, a defence release said, adding tracker dogs and special radars have been deployed in the search operations.

Chief Secretary VB Pathak said that the army may begin the evacuation of around 3,000 tourists stranded in Lachen, Lachung and Chungthang areas in North Sikkim from Friday depending on the weather conditions.

They will be brought to Mangan by air before being taken to Gangtok by road.

With the weather improving on Friday, there may be a window of opportunity for evacuation of the stranded tourists by helicopters, the defence release said.

Surveys are being carried out by all agencies to assess the damage and plan restoration of road connectivity. The road link between Singtam and Bardang has been restored with the clearing of a single lane for vehicular traffic, the release said.

Meanwhile, around 500 people were evacuated from Totgaon in Jalpaiguri district after Teesta water flowing downstream inundated the low-lying area located adjacent to the river.

The affected people have been shifted to local schools, where they were provided with food, blankets and tarpaulin sheets. Makeshift toilets have been constructed and their health condition is being monitored, officials said.