The Sikkim death toll in the flash flood triggered by the outburst of South Lhonak lake rose to 33 while 10 more bodies were found in Jalpaiguri district of Bengal on Sunday.
In Bengal, 48 bodies were recovered till Saturday and 30 of them were in Jalpaiguri district. With 10 more people being found dead in Jalpaiguri, the Bengal toll reached 58 on Sunday.
Sources in the Sikkim government said the flash flood in the Teesta river had affected over 60,000 people in the mountain state. As of now, 105 people are missing.
“Twenty-eight relief camps are running in Sikkim and around 7,000 people are staying there. Over 2,700 people, who were stuck in different places because of the disaster, have been rescued till today (Sunday),” said a source.
Chief minister P.S. Tamang on Sunday morning met Ajay Kumar Mishra, the Union minister of state for home who reached Sikkim to take stock of the situation.
Later in the day, Mishra visited Naga, an affected area in Mangan district. Tamang went to affected areas near Phidang bridge in Dikchu. The Teesta has flown away 14 bridges, including the Phidang and Sankalang bridges which connect Dikchu.
The chief minister interacted with local people and appreciated their efforts to install zip lines to ferry essential materials.
“He allocated funds for houses which had been damaged and for the construction of a bamboo bridge so that people can reach other locations of the state from Dikchu and vice-versa,” said a source.
On Saturday evening, a stretch of NH10 between Melli and Rangpo was opened. It will facilitate traffic from Rangpo to southern parts of Sikkim. However, it will take time to restore the highway in Bengal as several stretches were washed away by the Teesta, said sources.
Bengal ministers Aroop Biswas and Udayan Guha, along with Siliguri mayor Gautam Deb and GTA chief executive Anit Thapa, visited Rangpo in Kalimpong district on Sunday. They handed over relief items to people who were staying at the relief camp.
“The chief minister (Mamata Banerjee) is closely monitoring the situation. All steps are being taken to help the affected people and normalise communication facilities,” said Deb.
Jalpaiguri district police, along with the Indian Army, are conducting operations along the banks of the Teesta to trace bodies, and ammunition and explosives that were swept away by the river on October 4.
The searches will continue for a week, said sources. After the flash flood, it was found that a section of villagers living on the river bank had picked up mortar shells used by the army.
A minor boy died and others were injured when a shell exploded after one person had tried to break it.
“The residents have been asked not to get into the river. The army is using drones and radars to locate bodies and ammunition that might be buried under the sludge,” said a police officer.
Bhaichung’s appeal
Former Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia has appealed to the sports fraternity of the country to host sports events, which can be named “Play for Teesta”, and donate the collections to rebuild Sikkim.
“Sikkim is devastated by the disaster. More than 40 people have died and over 1,000 people have been displaced. In this crisis, I would like to appeal to sports lovers across the country to organise any sports event and raise funds which can be used to help the affected people of Sikkim,” he said in Siliguri.
