The flow of central cash for rebuilding areas affected by the Teesta floods of October 2023 dried up on the Bengal side of the river in the Union budget on Tuesday.
While tabling the Union budget for the 2024-25 fiscal, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “Recently Sikkim witnessed devastating flash floods and landslides that wreaked havoc across the state. Our government will provide assistance to
the state.”
The flood on the intervening night of October 3 and 4, 2023, on the Teesta river had been triggered by a glacial outburst of the South Lonark lake in north Sikkim.
Many houses on the Bengal side of the Teesta were also damaged.
According to the Kalimpong district administration, 483 houses were fully destroyed and 76 houses were partially damaged. NH10, the lifeline of Sikkim and Kalimpong, and the road connecting Darjeeling to Kalimpong are in a precarious situation as the level of the Teesta has risen because of the silt deposited in the river during the floods.
Water is entering many villages even in Jalpaiguri district this monsoon because of the siltation.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee flagged off the apathy towards Bengal with regard to the Teesta flood.
“They take votes from Darjeeling every time an election arrives, making tall promises. After the polls, they forget Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Mirik and Kurseong. That is their nature. Brothers and sisters of the Darjeeling hills should remember this,” Mamta said.
“Let Sikkim get it. We don’t have a problem. I cannot support depriving Darjeeling and supporting only Sikkim,” she added.
Many in the region, however, pointed out that while Sitharaman promised help for Sikkim, she was not clear with the compensation specifics, unlike Bihar.
The finance minister talked about compensation for floods and landslides for Bihar, Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, apart from Sikkim.
However, in the case of Bihar, the minister promised financial support of ₹11,500 crore. Such specifics were missing for other states.
Sikkim MP Indra Hang Subba of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) thanked the Centre for the support. The SKM backs the NDA government at the Centre.
Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) had said on June 24 that the state would need at least ₹3673.25 crore for recovery and reconstruction.
In the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), 42 people died and 77 went missing. It was estimated that 88,000 people were affected with 3600 houses and 920 shops being damaged in Sikkim.
The swollen Teesta also washed away 33 bridges and a hydel project in Sikkim.
The Centre had released ₹44.80 crore to Sikkim immediately after the flood from the central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
Additional reporting by Meghdeep Bhattacharyya in Calcutta