Heavy rain since Monday night triggered landslides at several locations in Sikkim and threw normal life out of gear in the mountain state.

Debris and boulders which descended from the hills blocked many roads, including NH10 — the principal highway that connects Sikkim with the rest of the country.

Excavators and other equipment have been mobilised to clear the roads.

A major landslide occurred in the Shantinagar area of Singtam and blocked NH10 which leads to Gangtok. An SUV parked in the area was almost buried under the sludge. The downpour flooded some houses at Chisopani in Singtam

Since Tuesday morning, vehicles had been stuck on NH10 because of the landslides. Gradually, vehicles were routed through alternative roads to reach Gangtok from Singtam and vice-versa.

The rain also triggered a landslide in Panihouse, near the Shiv Mandir area of Gangtok. Another landslide blocked the route from Mangan to Chungthang via Toong Naga.

Another stretch of highway that connects Lachen with the Gurudongmar Lake via Thangu was blocked at Zeema which is between Lachen and Thangu.

Since October 4 last year, when a flash flood occurred in the Teesta because of the outburst of the South Lhonak lake, Lachen, a popular destination in the Mangan district has been closed to tourists. Tourists can, however, visit Lachung, another hotspot in the district.

Sources in the administration said because of the heavy rainfall, the tourism centre at Menglee in Yangang, Namchi district, had suffered extensive damage. The rainfall and the landslide damaged homes and killed three people in Majawa village.

The P.S. Tamang (Golay) government has approved ex-gratia for the next of kin of the victims at the Majawa village.

“New houses would be built under the state’s housing scheme for the families who became homeless because of the landslide that occurred in the village on the night of June 9. The authorities have been instructed to assess the damage caused by the natural disaster,” said a source.

Weather experts at the regional Met office in Gangtok said it had rained around 100mm at several places, including Gangtok. Also, in Bengal, it rained around 160mm in Hasimara, while Siliguri received 110mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours (till 8.30am on Tuesday)

“The southwest monsoon is active over sub-Himalayan Bengal and Sikkim. This
has caused heavy to very heavy rainfall in several areas. There is a forecast of more rainfall during the next couple of days,” said an expert.