The death toll has reached at least 41 while 103 people, including 15 Army personnel, are still missing, as search operations continued for the fourth day on Saturday for those missing after flash floods devastated Sikkim, reported The Indian Express.
The flash flood, which was triggered by a cloudburst in the early hours of Wednesday, has damaged more than 1,200 houses and washed away 13 bridges, and affected over 25,000 people, according to officials.
So far, 2,413 people have been rescued from different areas and 6,875 people are taking shelter in 22 relief camps set up across the state, most of which has been cut off from the rest of the country.
Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the families of the deceased and an immediate relief of Rs 2,000 each for all those taking shelter in the camps.
“There have been damage worth thousands of crores of rupees. We cannot give exact details about the damage. It will be revealed once a committee is formed and completes its analysis. Our first priority is to save those who are stranded and provide them immediate relief,” he told PTI Video.
“Road connectivity between the districts has been cut off and bridges have been washed away. Communication in North Sikkim has been severely affected,” he added.
Of the 23 Army personnel who had gone missing from Bardang, the bodies of seven have been recovered from different areas downstream of Teesta, while one of them was rescued earlier.
The search for the remaining missing soldiers is continuing both in Sikkim and the northern parts of West Bengal through which the Teesta flows, the chief minister said.
At the site of the incident at Burdang near Singtam, Army vehicles and stores are being dug out. Additional teams of the Tiranga Mountain Rescue (TMR), a non-profit organisation affiliated with the Army, sniffer dogs, and special radars have been pressed into service to assist in the search operations.
Meanwhile, the Centre approved to release Rs 44.80 crore in advance as its share from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) to Sikkim. Also, an inter-ministerial central team has been constituted to take stock of damages caused in the state.
Meanwhile, the CM on Friday visited disaster-hit areas and accused the previous government of building sub-standard dams.
“There was a cloudburst and the Lhonak Lake burst… the dam broke and more floods hit lower reaches of Sikkim because of inferior and sub-standard construction by the previous government,” the CM told media-persons.