Gangtok : Nearly 500 tourists, including 13 from Bangladesh, were rescued by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Army from the Lachen and Lachung towns in North Sikkim on Monday, officials said.
These tourists were evacuated from North Sikkim on IAF Chinook and Mi-17 choppers land at Pakyong airport after they were stranded at Lachen and Lachung following a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in Mangan district on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, an IAF’s Chinook helicopter airlifted NDRF personnel, Search & Rescue equipment, fuel, medicine and critical supplies of the Indian Army in Sikkim
“Air assets of the IAF are deployed to transport the stranded tourists to safer locations and critical supplies across the state,” the IAF wrote on X.
Meanwhile, a six-member inter-ministerial team constituted by the Central government visited the flood affected areas of Gangtok and Pakyong districts as well as Phidang, Lower Dzongu on Monday.
The team led by Joint Secretary (Freedom Fighters & Rehabilitation), Ministry of Home Affairs, Anant Kishore Saran did on-the-spot assessment of the damage due to flash flood after after a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood occurred in parts of Lhonak Lake in Sikkim.
Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang Golay held a high-level meeting to sort measures and restoration works caused by the calamity.
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary V.B. Pathak, Chief of Army Staff, General Manoj Pande, General Officer Commanding in Eastern Command, Lieutenant General R.P. Kalita besides other Army and senior government officials.
A government official said the meeting was held keeping in priority the government’s commitment to swiftly respond to the crisis and work hand-in-hand with the military to ensure the well-being and recovery of the affected communities.
