Mumbai: On Wednesday, a cloudburst above Lhonak Lake in north Sikkim caused a flash flood in the Teesta River watershed, tragically claiming at least 14 lives. 80 people, including 22 army personnel, are presently missing from the impacted population.
Three people were among the dead, all of them were recognised as civilians, whose remains were found in north Bengal. Later on in the day, one of the 23 army troops who were missing was successfully retrieved.
According to authorities, the disaster was made worse by the water being released from the Chungthang dam, which started at 1:30 am. Over 3,000 visitors from all parts of the nation are trapped in various sections of Sikkim, according to Sikkim Chief Secretary V B Pathak.
A cloudburst caused Sikkim’s Lhonak Lake to overflow and cause flash floods in the Teesta River, thus over 65% of the lake — or around 105 hectares — had to be drained.
The bullet-shaped lake was photographed on September 17 and September 28. The photographs show the lake containing 162.7 and 167.4 hectares, respectively. Temporal satellite images, also known as before-and-after images, reveal huge fluctuations in the amount of water in the lake.
Additionally, several employees at the Teesta Stage III dam in Chungthang became stuck inside the dam’s tunnels, according to Pathak.
According to the Sikkim Chief Secretary, 14 bridges have fallen as a result of floods, with nine of them falling under the jurisdiction of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and five others under the control of the state government.
According to Pathak, there have been several reports of individuals going missing and getting hurt in the districts of Chungthang in Mangan, Dikchu, Singtam in Gangtok, and Rangpo in Pakyong. According to a different authority, 166 individuals have so far been saved, including the soldier.
The rescued soldier’s health is stable, according to Defence Spokesperson Lt Col Mahendra Rawat.
Bodies, including that of a child, were fished out from the flood plains of the Teesta river at Golitar in Singtam by rescue personnel, the officials said.
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The post 3,000 Tourists Stranded, 102 People Missing Due To Sikkim Flash Floods first appeared on The Prevalent India.
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