Union Home Minister Amit Shah has approved the release of Rs 44.8 crore as an advance amount from the central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to Sikkim to provide relief to flash floods-affected people.

Following a directive from Shah, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has formed an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), which will visit the affected areas of Sikkim soon to make an assessment of the damage caused due to a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), cloudburst and flash floods, according to an official statement.

The home minister has approved the release of both the instalments of the SDRF's central share to Sikkim, amounting to Rs 44.8 crore, in advance for 2023-24 to help the northeastern state provide relief to the affected people, the statement said.

The Centre has assured the Sikkim government of all possible help. The central government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is standing shoulder to shoulder with Sikkim, the statement said.

Based on the IMCT's assessment, additional central assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) will be approved for Sikkim, in accordance with the laid-down procedure.

In the early hours of October 4, due to the incidents GLOF, cloudburst and flash floods, there was a sudden surge in the water flow in the Teesta river, which washed away several bridges, parts of National Highway-10 and the Chungthang dam. It has impacted several small towns and infrastructure projects in the upper reaches of the river valley in Sikkim.

The situation in Sikkim is being closely monitored by the Centre at the highest level on a 24x7 basis.

The Centre is providing full support to the Sikkim government by mobilising timely logistics resources to supplement its efforts to deal with the situation effectively.

The logistics support provided includes the deployment of adequate teams of the NDRF, Indian Air Force helicopters and Army personnel, along with necessary search-and-rescue equipment.

Further, technical teams from the ministries of power, telecommunications and roads, highways and transport are assisting for a timely restoration of the damaged infrastructure and communication network in the state, the statement said.

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