In Sikkim, death toll following devastating flash flood has mounted to 19. State Disaster Management Department has said 26 are injured while 103 are reported missing including army personel.
State Chief Secretary VB Pathak convened a series of meetings with the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, Wholesale Retailers, Pharmacy Association, IOC Representatives, LPG dealers and distributors, petrol pump owners, and Taxi Drivers Association, at Tashiling Secretariat yesterday.
The Chief Secretary directed the NHIDCL to open the route for small and heavy vehicles through Lava and Reshi check posts at the earliest. ED, NHIDCL assured that the route will be cleared by this morning. The Transport Secretary was directed for route diversion for small and heavy vehicles after ensuring clearance of the route.
To keep the rates of the essential commodities unchanged, the State Government has decided not to levy SNT supervision charges on private vehicles carrying essential commodities through Rangpo, Reshi and Melli Check Posts. If the SNT fleet is being used to transport essential commodities through the new route, the charges will be the same as that of the normal route. Keeping in view the burden of excess distance of about 100 km, the decision for subsidy has been taken.
In a press release NHIDCL said that due to a Glacial cloud burst in Lhonak Lake in Mangan District of North Sikkim a lot of damage has occurred in Sikkim which include damage of houses and roads. The NH-10 at two locations near singtam hospital, the entire road is flooded with slush in approx 800 meter length. In order to restore the connectivity between Rangpo & Gangtok, NHIDCL has deployed 6 JCBs, 8 Tippers and one excavator at the site and NHIDCL contractor are working day and night to ensure restoration. The officers of NHIDCL are also deployed throughout the day to restore and to achieve progress speedily and it is expected that entire stretch from rangpo to ranipool will be restored within two days.
In a press release PRO defance Guwahati said, the search for the missing Indian Army persons continues. Meanwhile Indian Army is providing assistance in terms of food, medical aid and extending communication facility to civilians and tourists stranded in North Sikkim. The search for the missing Indian Army soldiers continues with the search focussing in the downstream in areas of Teesta Barrage. At the site of incident at Burdang near Singtam, the army vehicles are being dug out and stores being recovered. Additional resources in terms of teams of Tiranga Mountain Rescue, tracker dogs, special radars have been brought in to assist in the search operations.
Meanwhile, Troops of TriShakti Corps Indian Army have been able to take account of 1471 tourists present the areas of Lachen/Chatten, Lachung and Chungthang. With the weather improving on 6 Oct, there may be a window of opportunity for evacuation of stranded tourists by Helicopters. The same is being planned jointly by the State Government, Indian Army and Indian Air Force.
Survey is being carried out by all agencies to assess the damage and plan restoration of road connectivity. The road link between Singtam and Burdang has been restored with the clearing of a single lane for vehicular traffic.
