Sikkim has started rescuing stranded tourists and students from north Sikkim by building log bridges over landslide areas.

On Saturday, 19 buses and 70 small vehicles were pressed for rescue operations.

Sources said that 2,475 tourists including 60 students from Namchi Government College were stranded at Lachen and Lachung, two popular tourist places of Mangan district in north Sikkim, after roads were blocked by landslides triggered by heavy rains in the region over the past few days.

Major road breaches were reported from Chungthang from where the road to Lachen and Lachung diverts into two different directions.

Stranded tourists being rescued in north Sikkim on Saturday

“Chief minister Prem Singh Tamang is personally keeping tabs on the rescue operations supervised by Mangan DC Hem Kumar Chettri and SP Tshering Gyatso Bhutia,” said a source.

“Most tourists were rescued by late evening. This was possible after two log bridges were temporarily constructed for the stranded people to cross by foot,” said the source.

Following heavy rain, 90-year-old Ash Lall, a resident of Darap, some 134km from Gangtok, was swept away by the swollen Rimbi river on Friday.

On Thursday, landslides occurred along the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg that connects popular destinations like Tsomgo (Chhangu) Lake, Nathu-la and Baba Mandir with Gangtok.

The road blocked along stretches from Mangan to Dikchu and Chungthang, from Phidang to Lum and from Sangkalang to 12th Mile in north Sikkim have been cleared all through Saturday.