Sikkim flash flood: Toll rises to 21 searches on for 103 missing people

Gangtok/Jalpaiguri, Oct 6: The toll in the flash flood in Sikkim mounted to 21 on Friday as Army and NDRF teams worked their way through slushy earth and fast flowing water in the Teesta river basin and downstream north Bengal for the third day in search of those who were swept away and are still missing, officials said.

Of the 23 army personnel who were missing from Bardang area, the bodies of seven have been recovered from different areas downstream, while one was rescued and the search is on for 15 missing jawans, Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang said.

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 flash flood in the Teesta River, triggered by the cloudburst in Lhonak Lake, caused the 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 being 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.