Gangtok : The death toll in the flash flood in Sikkim rose to 22, including seven soldiers of the Indian Army, and more than 100 people are still missing as on Friday after a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim in the early hours of Wednesday triggered flash flood in the Teesta river, officials said.
So far, 2,411 people have been evacuated and nearly 6,000 shifted to relief camps, and over 22,000 people were affected, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has approved release of both the installments of central share of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to Sikkim, amounting to Rs 44.80 crore in advance, for the year 2023-24, to help the State in providing relief measures to the affected people.
Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang Golay said seven bodies of the 23 soldiers, who were missing from the Burdang area, were recovered from different areas downstream, while one was rescued and the search is on for 15 missing soldiers.
The National Disaster Response Force, the Army, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Border Roads Organisation and Sikkim civil administration have intensified their search and rescue operations through slushy earth and fast flowing water in the Teesta river for third day.
“The search operation for the missing soldiers continues with the focus now on the downstream areas of Teesta Barrage,” a defence official said.
The Army has brought in additional resources in terms of teams of Tiranga Mountain Rescue, tracker dogs, and special radars have been brought in, to assist in the search operations.
“The army vehicles are being dug out and stores are being recovered at the site of the incident at Burdang near Singtam,” the defence official said.
Apart from providing assistance in terms of food, medical aid and communication facilities to civilians and tourists stranded in North Sikkim, the Army has successfully accounted for 1,471 tourists who were stranded in the regions of Lachen, Chatten, Lachung, and Chungthang.
With improved weather conditions on Friday, there is hope for helicopter evacuations of stranded tourists.
Survey efforts are underway to assess the damage, and plans for the restoration of road connectivity are being formulated.
The road link between Singtam and Burdang has been partially restored for vehicular traffic.
