MoS Ajay Mishra assures rescue operations to continue for missing persons in Sikkim flash floods

Mangan (Sikkim) [India], October 8 (ANI): Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra visited the flood-affected areas and met with the flood victims at a relief camp in Sikkim’s Mangan on Sunday.

MoS Mishra said that a team of six ministries has been constituted to build the infrastructure once again in the disaster-hit state.

“It is a very big tragedy. It is really a big crisis, there’s a huge loss, people are missing, and many casualties happened too. There’s a huge loss in road connectivity. PM Modi talked to the state CM on how to make things go back to normal,” MoS Mishra said while speaking to ANI after visiting the affected areas.

He further said, “We are continuously trying to rescue people who are missing. Home Minister Amit Shah has made a team of six ministries including agriculture, road & transport, energy, water, finance and home ministry is leading it to build the infrastructure once again.”

MoS Mishra earlier today held a meeting with Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang to discuss the flash flood situation in the state.

CM Tamang thanked the Government of India for providing immediate funds to the state amid the flash flood situation.

He further asserted that the state and central governments are working together to restore normalcy in the state.

“PM Modi, Union HM Amit Shah and the entire Central government are standing with the people of Sikkim. NDRF teams have been sent to rescue people,” CM Tamang said while speaking to ANI in Gangtok.

“NDRF teams have been sent to rescue people. Power supply in some places has been restored and we are working with BRO and other departments as well,” he said.

A statement issued by the Army today said that the Indian Army Corps of Signals has ensured the timely restoration of civil cellular communications as part of continued assistance to stranded tourists at Chungthang, Lachung and Lachen, North Sikkim.

Most of the stranded tourists have been able to speak to their family back home, it added.

As per the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) report of October 7 as of 10 am, the death toll was registered at 27 with 141 people still reported missing. It said 2413 people have been rescued, and 1203 houses have been damaged in the flash flood.

It further said that about 25,065 people have been disaster-affected so far and 6875 people have been shifted to relief camps. The Sikkim government has set up 22 relief camps.

The Lhonak glacier in the Sikkim Himalayas burst on October 3, breaching one side of the lake leading to the rise in the water levels in Teesta and inundating several areas of the state.