Three days after flash floods hit Sikkim, Army personnel among 103 people missing
GUWAHATI/KOLKATA: Three days after the tragedy struck the Himalayan state there is no trace of at least 103 people, including some Army personnel. Army and NDRF teams, both on foot and in boats, have recovered 25 bodies including seven army men from the slush and debris of the flash flood which swept through Sikkim’s Teesta river, officials said on Friday.
The flood was triggered by a cloudburst in the early hours of Wednesday. Officials said some 2,413 people have been rescued and are in shelters. After visiting some affected areas, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang quoting from a report released by the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority said 3,000 tourists and more than 800 drivers continued to remain stranded, but they were safe.
“It is a massive disaster, not just for the state but also for the country,” Tamang said, adding damage could be worth thousands of crores of rupees. He said a team from the Ministry of Home Affairs would visit the state to assess the damage while the state government would form a technical committee by drawing dam experts, scientists and environmentalists and find out what the state should do in the future.
In a statement, the Defence Ministry said the search for the missing Indian Army personnel continued. Meanwhile, a seven-year-old boy was killed while six others of his family were injured in a mortar explosion in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri on Thursday evening. The mortar – part of the Indian Army’s ammunition – was swept away by the Teesta. The river flows down into Bengal before entering Bangladesh. The victim was identified as Sahinur Alam.
Land sinking threat looms over Himachal
As the monsoon fury ends in Himachal Pradesh, 201 villages in the state face the threat of land subsidence or sudden sinking. Sources said land subsidence has taken place across the state with the highest in Solan district (51 villages) followed by Mandi (46) and Chamba (43).