Sikkim Flash Floods: 14 dead, 26 injured and 102 missing in massive floods
Sikkim Flash Floods: Amid relentless rainfall followed by cloudburst wreak havoc in Sikkim leaving 14 people dead, 26 injured and 102 missing.
Meanwhile, over 3,000 tourists are feared to be stranded in different parts of the State. 12-14 workers working in the Teesta Stage 3 dam in Chungthang are still stranded in the tunnels of the dam.
Injuries and persons missing have been reported from Chungthang in Mangan district, and Dikchu, Singtam in Gangtok district and Rangpo in Pakyong district.
The cloud burst occurred around 10:42 pm on Tuesday night in Lhonak lake. Thereafter the lake breached its embankment and made its course towards Teesta river. Soon different parts of the Teesta basin reported a rise in water, with particularly alarming levels in Chungthang where the Teesta Stage 3 dam was breached.
Many homes near the River Teesta, situated in Gangtok's Singtam have been evacuated. Additionally, temporary relief facilities have been established in the town's Singtam Senior Secondary School.
Even the police station in Chungthang has been destroyed. Chungthang and most of North Sikkim have disrupted mobile network connection as the fibre cable lines were also being destroyed by the flash floods in Sangkalan and Toong in Mangan district, according to the official report.
The State government has set up 18 relief camps in Singtam, Rangpo, Dikchu and Adarsh Gaon which have faced most of the damages. However, due to a lack of connectivity with Chungthang, the relief camps there are being set up by the Indian Army and other paramilitaries.
South Lhonark lake, situated in North West Sikkim, witnessed a cloud burst causing incessant monsoon rainfall on Wednesday morning. The flowing flash flood made its way through River Teesta sweeping Indreni Bridge in Singtam town, some 30 kilometres from Gangtok informed Gangtok District Administration. Another connecting bridge of Balutar hamlet was also swept away around 4 am.
The Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, has expressed his grief over the loss of life and widespread damage to property that occurred in Sikkim as a result of the flash flood on Tuesday night, his office informed on Wednesday in a press statement
According to the press statement, "In a letter to Prem Singh Tamang, Chief Minister of Sikkim, today, His Holiness the Dalai Lama expressed his sadness about the loss of life and widespread damage to property that has occurred in Sikkim as a result of the flash flood that took place in the Teesta River Valley last night."
"I offer my condolences to families who have lost loved ones," he wrote, "as well as others affected by this disaster, and pray for their welfare," Dalai Lama said.
- With inputs from agencies
