Darjeeling, April 25 -- In the wake of continuous rainfall and massive landslides across North Sikkim, district officials led by District Collector Anant Jain visited the landslide sites on the Chungthang-Lachung road to assess the damage and initiate prompt restoration efforts. Accompanied by senior police and administrative officers, the Collector instructed GREF to deploy heavy machinery immediately, with local construction companies also roped in for rapid clearance. More than a thousand tourists had been stranded in North Sikkim owing to the slides.
Authorities facilitated the safe evacuation of over 185 tourist vehicles from Chungthang via the newly-installed Bailey bridge at Sankalang. Sonam Detchu Bhutia, Superintendent of Police, Mangan stated that around 1,500 tourists who were stranded on the road on Thursday owing to the landslides were accommodated in nearby villages, in the Gurudwara, police station, ITBP camp and in residences for the night.
"They were evacuated on Friday morning and left from Gangtok," added the SP. Tourists stranded in Lachen and Lachung, numbering over 1,400 across approximately 250 vehicles, have been advised to stay put, with food and lodging ensured. The District Administration has suspended all travel permits to Lachen and Lachung until further notice.
However, permits for Dzongu will resume from Saturday. Power restoration efforts are underway in affected areas, including Chungthang, Lachen and Lachung. Multiple landslide points - most notably at Munshithang and Lema - have severely damaged road infrastructure, rendering travel to key destinations impossible.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.