Ajay Kumar Mishra, Minister of State for Home Affairs, has urges the Sikkim Government officials to prepare a short term and long-term plan to effectively accomplish the task of re-building the damaged/lost infrastructure in the shortest possible time. He said this during his visit to the Northeastern State on 7th October to assess the situation following the calamitous flood of the Teesta river that has led to loss of lives and large scale damage to infrastructure, property.
On Saturday, the Union Minister chaired a meeting with the Chief Secretary and concerned head of departments of the State Government, and senior officers of the Army, ITBP, BRO, NHIDCL and NHPC at Gangtok where he said that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister were in constant touch with the Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang with regard to the extent of damages and rescue and relief work, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.
Mishra assured that the Government of India is closely monitoring the situation in Sikkim and all the necessary support and assistance for the State is underway. He also informed that the Inter-Ministerial Central Team comprising of senior officers of five Ministries of the Government of India, namely Agriculture, Road Transport & Highways, Jal Shakti, Energy and Finance will visit the State from Sunday, 8th October to take stock of the ground situation, assess the damages and provide assistance wherever necessary.
The MoS further informed that the Central Government has granted an advance sanction of the allocated SDRF for 2023-24 to enable the State to carry out immediate rescue, relief and restoration and urged the State Government officials to prepare a short term and long-term plan to effectively accomplish the task of re-building the damaged/lost infrastructure in the shortest possible time.
Earlier, Vijay Bhushan Pathak, IAS, Chief Secretary of Sikkim briefed the Union Minister about the sequence of events since the early hours of 4th October that led to the disaster, and the extent of damages. He apprised about the extensive damages to roads and other vital infrastructures like telecommunication, water and electricity. Pathak informed about the casualties and the status of the relief camps and further delivered a comprehensive summary of the steps being taken by the State Government in active coordination with the army, NDRF, BRO, ITBP and all other agencies.
During his visit, Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra also called on the Governor of Sikkim, Lakshman Prasad Acharya at Raj Bhavan and assured of all possible support to the State from the Central Government to overcome the crisis.
Mishra also visited the Army camp at Burdong where maximum casualties have been reported.
Later the MoS called on CM PS Tamang to discuss recovery and restoration efforts in disaster-affected areas of state.
According to Akashavani news, 2563 people have been rescued so far, 32 have lost their lives, 26 are injured while 122 are still missing.
The Ministry of Defence had said on Saturday evening that ITBP has carried out rescue operation right from 3rd Oct night itself, and evacuated more than 175 persons, and they are running relief centre within their different camps. Four teams of NDRF have also rescued 178 persons, it informed, adding that Indian Air Force helicopters were on standby to launch air rescue, subject to weather conditions. Army personnel along with necessary search and rescue equipment are assisting state administration in restoration work.
National Highway 10 (NH 10), the lifeline of Sikkim, has been rendered unusable due to damages to the road surface and many bridges across the Teesta River, the Ministry said.
The Ministry said that approximately 1500 tourists were assessed to be stranded in the areas of Lachung and Lachen valleys in North Sikkim and that the Indian Army along with the local administration has been extending assistance to the stranded tourists and locals by providing food, medical aid and telephone connectivity through satellite terminals.
