Over 1,600 tourists were evacuated from two north Sikkim towns after rain-triggered landslides blocked roads leading to Gangtok and out of the state. Stranded since May 29, the tourists in Lachung and Chungthang towns were evacuated in over 200 vehicles through the Phidang bridge.
Despite the evacuation that began after Border Roads Organisation (BRO) restored road connectivity to Lachung in Mangan district, over 100 tourists remain stranded in Lachen village amid a landslide in Chhaten, per Sikkim Director General of Police Akshay Sachdeva. District Magistrate Anant Jain has assured they will be evacuated by Tuesday, hinting at the possibility of deploying helicopters if weather permits.
Search is on for newly-wed Uttar Pradesh couple Ankita Singh (26) and Kaushalendra Pratap Singh (32), who have been missing since May 29 after the vehicle in Munshithang carrying them and nine others plunged nearly 1,000 feet into the Teesta river between Chungthang and Munshithang. Among the others missing after the accident are Odisha BJP leader Itishree Jena and three members of her family.
Incessant rainfall since May 29 triggered landslides in several parts of Mangan district, causing partial damage to bridges in Phidang and Sangkalang and disrupting road connectivity for several days.
With rainfall exceeding 130 mm, major damage occurred along the routes to key tourist destinations, including Lachen, Lachung, Gurudongmar, the Valley of Flowers and Zero Point.
The disaster caused the formation of breaches at multiple locations, damage to bridges and large-scale landslides across vital road stretches, including the Dikchu-Sanklang -Shipgyere road, Chungthang-Lachen-Zeema and Chungthang-Lachung roads. These routes, which serve as essential links toward Lachen and Lachung, were left completely cut off.
Further, two crucial bailey bridges along the Lachen axis got washed away.
The BRO teams cleared debris, reconstructed damaged stretches and the dangerous breach near the suspension bridge at Phidang for one-way vehicular connectivity towards Lachung to pave the way for the evacuation of stranded tourists via the Lachung-Chungthang-Shipgyere-Sanklang-Dikchu road.
At least 34 people have died in floods and landslides in the northeastern states — Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and others — over the last three days.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured of every possible help to the flood-hit areas. He has spoken to the Chief Ministers of Assam, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh and the Governor of Manipur.
With inputs from PTI
