Sikkim Flood News Updates: Govt urges tourists to postpone travel plans

Surat-resident Shailendra Kumar, who had gone to Sikkim with his family for a short vacation, hadn’t imagined in his wildest dreams that their trip to the picturesque state would turn into a nightmare.

All went well for them initially until Wednesday’s cloudburst and flash floods devastated their plans.

"The weather was fantastic during our visit to Gangtok and Pelling, a beautiful town in the West district of Sikkim. Trouble started after we left Pelling on Wednesday morning and started our journey back to the state capital when we got stuck midway because of landslides," Kumar told PTI over phone from Darjeeling on Thursday.

An Army jawan from Odisha who was missing in Sikkim flash floods along with 22 other army personnel was found dead on Thursday, family members said.

Saroj Kumar Das, a resident of Kendudhipa village of Odisha's Dhenkanal district, was at the Army camp when a sudden cloudburst triggered flash flood in Teesta river in North Sikkim on early hours of Wednesday.

As flash flood left a trail of destruction in Sikkim, the government on Thursday urged people, who planned to visit the Himalayan state soon, to postpone their programmes till the situation normalises.

The state administration also requested those stranded in the flood-hit Mangan district not to panic as the authorities concerned would start an evacuation process from Friday.

Around midnight of October 3, locals in Chungthang town in Sikkim were told by authorities to relocate immediately due to the flash flood in the Teesta River in Lachen Valley and they vacated immediately with a few essential things they could carry, their families said.

Locals from nearby areas and different parts of the state are shocked by the situation on the ground and said they haven't witnessed a disaster of this scale in their lifetime.

Flash floods after a glacial lake outburst in Sikkim have killed at least 18 people and damaged some hydro-power plants, rekindling worries about the detrimental impact of climate change on human lives and properties.

More than 150 people are missing in the northeastern state of Sikkim, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. The hilly region is forecast to get more heavy rains Thursday, the weather office warned.

Several occasions in the last two decades have seen government agencies and research studies warning about potential glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in Sikkim, which can cause massive damage to life and property.

A GLOF occurred in parts of Lhonak Lake, leading to a rapid rise in water levels with very high velocities downstream along the Teesta River Basin in the early hours of October 4. This resulted in severe damage in Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong and Namchi districts.

A study by an international team of researchers had warned two year ago that the South Lhonak lake in Sikkim may burst in the future and significantly impact the downstream region.

An outburst in the South Lhonak Lake on the intervening night of October 3-4, triggered a flash flood in the Teesta river basin, leaving 14 people dead and 102 others, including 22 army personnel, missing.

Fourteen people have died and 102 others, including 22 army personnel, were missing after the cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim triggered a flash flood in the Teesta river basin, officials said on Thursday.

So far, 2,011 people have been rescued, while the calamity that happened on Wednesday affected 22,034 people, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) said in its latest bulletin.

The Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, has on Wednesday expressed his grief over the loss of life and devastation that occurred in Sikkim as a result of the flash flood on Tuesday night, news agency PTI reported citing a press statement from his office.

The statement said, "In a letter to Prem Singh Tamang, Chief Minister of Sikkim, today, His Holiness the Dalai Lama expressed his sadness about the loss of life and widespread damage to property that has occurred in Sikkim as a result of the flash flood that took place in the Teesta River Valley last night."

"I offer my condolences to families who have lost loved ones," he wrote, "as well as others affected by this disaster, and pray for their welfare," Dalai Lama said.

Various government agencies and scientific missions have consistently raised concerns about the susceptibility of Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim to a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) for the past ten years, documents accessed by HT show. On Wednesday, flash floods, stemming from this lake, surged into the Teesta River, resulting in extensive destruction downstream. This calamity led to the destruction of the 1,200 MW Teesta Urja dam and tragically resulted in at least 11 fatalities, with more than 120 people reported missing.

Congress resident Mallikarjun Kharge expressed his apprehension regarding the flood situation in Sikkim and called upon the Central government to designate both the Sikkim flash floods and the floods in Himachal Pradesh as ‘national disasters’. He also conveyed his condolences to the families of the individuals who tragically lost their lives in the Sikkim flash floods.

Satellite images released by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have revealed how a possible avalanche led to the outburst of the Lhonak Lake in north Sikkim which led to a flash flood in the Himalayan state, killing scores and washing away roads, bridges and dams.

In a post shared on X, the government urged the citizens to contact the following helpline numbers for any assistance: 03592-202892 - Landline; 03592-221152 - Landline; 8001763383 - Mobile; 03592-202042 - Fax; or call '112' for emergency assistance.

The Indian Army also shared three helplines for families of missing people in Sikkim including its own soldiers. For assistance in North Sikkim, people may dial 8750887741; for East Sikkim - 8756991895 and the helpline number for enquiries related to the 22 missing soldiers is 7588302011.

Sikkim chief secretary V.B. Pathak said that over 3,000 tourists from different parts of the country are currently marooned in the state due to the ongoing disaster. Following a comprehensive review of the situation, cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba issued directives on Wednesday, emphasising the urgent evacuation of individuals stranded within the Chungthang dam tunnel, as well as prioritising the evacuation of tourists.