Sikkim Cloudburst Flood Situation Update | Teesta River – Nepal Earthquake | So far 26 dead including 7 soldiers, 143 still missing; Search operation continues

This is a picture of 5th October. 13 bridges and many national highways have been destroyed by floods in Sikkim.

The flood in Teesta river following the cloudburst in Sikkim on October 3 is still wreaking havoc in the state. According to the report of news agency PTI, 25000 people have been affected by this flood. 1200 houses have been washed away. 7 thousand people are stranded in different areas.

So far 2413 people have been rescued. 6875 people are living in 22 relief camps set up across the state. At the same time, the number of people who lost their lives in this disaster has increased to 26 till late Friday night. The rescue operation is continuing continuously.

Chief Minister PS Tamang said that out of the 23 army personnel missing from Burdang area, bodies of 7 have been recovered from the lower areas of the river. One of the missing soldiers was rescued. A total of 143 people, including 15 soldiers, are still missing. NDRF, SDRF and Air Force helicopters have been deployed to search for them.

In view of the flood situation, the Education Department has given instructions to close all schools till October 15. The department had earlier talked about closure till October 8 only.

60 meter high dam collapses in just 10 seconds
Scientists fear that Sikkim’s Lhonak Lake broke due to the earthquake in Nepal. Its scope was reduced to one third. When the cloud burst the lake could not hold that much water. This caused flooding in the Teesta river. The water level of the river rose by 15 to 20 feet. There was an army camp in the area adjacent to the river, which was washed away in the flood and 41 vehicles parked there were drowned.

In barely 10 seconds, the 60-metre high dam of the Rs 13,000 crore Teesta-3 hydropower project was completely washed away by floods from Lahonak Lake. An international team of researchers had warned two years ago that the South Lake in Sikkim could burst in the future and devastate the low-lying area.

Many houses were submerged in the waters of Teesta river in Kalimpong, West Bengal.

Mortar floating along the river exploded, 2 killed
An Army mortar was reportedly washed away by flood waters in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district. A man took it home and tried to break it to sell. Then the shell burst. 2 people died and 4 were injured in the accident.

Meanwhile, Jalpaiguri police has issued an advisory asking people to stay away from any ammunition or explosives floating in the river. Also appealed to inform the police about this.

Sikkim government has also issued a similar warning. It is said in it that if you go to the Teesta river basin, be careful, because there may be explosives and ammunition under the dirty water.

Relief and rescue work is going on in Sikkim with the help of JCB. The debris is being removed slowly.

Maximum damage occurred in 4 districts of Sikkim
Four districts of Sikkim – Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong and Namchi – have suffered the most damage due to floods. More than 22 thousand people have been affected here, while more than 2 thousand people have been rescued. 26 relief camps have been set up here. Water pipelines, sewage lines and more than 250 houses have been damaged in these four districts. 11 bridges have been destroyed.

There is also a flood like situation in three districts of West Bengal adjoining Sikkim – Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong and Cooch Behar.

Houses in Rangpo, Sikkim are filled with debris. Many vehicles have been submerged in water.

NH-10 washed away, hundreds of villages cut off
Hundreds of villages in Sikkim have been cut off from main roads. Dikhchu, Singtam and Rangpo towns have been submerged in water. The National Highway NH-10 connecting Sikkim to the country was also washed away in the flood.

The state government has declared this incident a disaster. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked to Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang to know the situation in Sikkim. Assured them of help.

Many cranes were completely buried in the mud that came with the flood.

Fear of flood was expressed in 2 year old study
In 2021, a study by international researchers came out, which said that South Lhonak Lake of Sikkim can erupt any time. It was feared that its impact would be in the low-lying areas.

This study was published in the journal Geomorphology. It was said that the glaciers in Lhonak Lake have melted rapidly in the last decade. Due to this, the possibility of flooding in the lake has increased.

Picture after the flood in Singtam, Sikkim. Vehicles are buried under debris and people are leaving their homes and going to safe places.

After the cloud burst, there was flood in Kalimpong, West Bengal.

Some bridges, culverts and roads built on the river have also been damaged.

4 major cloud burst incidents this year…
24 August: There was a cloud burst in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. In which 51 people were trapped. The NDRF team had rescued everyone safely. The bridge was broken into two due to the spate of Balad river due to rain in Baddi district. In Pandoh, one person died after being hit by debris while a school building was washed away in a drain.

9 August: Cloud burst in Paonta Sahib of Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, due to which a house in Sirmauri Tal village collapsed due to flood. Five people from the same family were affected by it. Two children were also included in these. The bodies of two people were recovered.

22 July: Many vehicles were washed away in the flood caused by cloudburst in Shimla. Many houses were damaged there. There was no information about any casualty. However, due to rain, the highway was closed due to landslide on Chamba-Pathankot NH.

25th July: Cloud burst caused huge destruction in Rampur of Shimla district of Himachal. Due to cloud burst in Kandar village of Sartara Panchayat of Rampur block, six houses of people including primary school, youth club collapsed. More than one and a half dozen domesticated cattle were swept away in the flood. Water entered many houses and half a dozen vehicles were also damaged.

Read this news also…

Relief operations after disaster in Sikkim: Indian Air Force helicopters sent from Jammu

Of the 23 missing soldiers of the Indian Army in Sikkim, only one has been recovered alive so far. Search and rescue operations for the remaining 22 soldiers are ongoing. For this, disaster operations are being conducted in the state by the Indian Air Force. Wing Commander Irfan Jeral, commanding officer of the helicopter unit in Jammu, said that the people of Sikkim would be rescued. Read the full news…