Evacuation of stranded tourists begins in Sikkim, 59 tourists evacuated

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJune 17, 2024

The evacuation of stranded tourists began in flood and landslide-affected Sikkim as 59 tourists have been evacuated by road from Toong in the Mangan district of Sikkim till Monday afternoon.

“First batch of 50 stranded tourists have been evacuated from Chungthang to Mangan by BRO. Brave personnel of Project Swastik have defied the odds of inclement weather and made elaborate arrangements in coordination with State Authorities to carry out road evacuation of tourists,” a senior BRO official said.

“Nine other tourists were evacuated till noon today,” said Mangan district magistrate Hem Kumar Chettri, who led the evacuation process, said.

An official of the district administration said no tourists have been allowed to be moved from Chungthang and Lachung. Many tourists are accommodated in Chungthang Gurudwara, some in other houses and most of them have been sent back to Lachung.

A senior official of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) said: “The district administration and BRO are planning to evacuate some tourists from the Toong axis using the recently constructed BRO modular bridge. This road evacuation is subject to favourable weather conditions. Presently it is raining heavily in Sikkim.”

More than 1,200 tourists, including 15 foreign tourists were stranded in the Himalayan state as rain-induced landslides blocked all major roads leading to North Sikkim like Dikchu-Sanklang-Toong, Mangan-Sanklang, Singtham-Rangrang, Rangrang-Toong resulting in severing of connectivity to North Sikkim. The situation became grave after the collapse of the newly constructed suspension bridge at Sanklangas entire connectivity to North Sikkim and the Dzongu region was through this bridge.

The flood, triggered by heavy monsoon rains, swept through several regions of Sikkim, causing widespread destruction to homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods. However, amidst the chaos and loss, a sense of solidarity and determination emerged as BRO workers were working day and night to overcome the challenges faced because of the harsh climate.

Brigadier Manoj Gupta, Chief Engineer Project Swastik of BRO along with his team of officers have carried out a detailed report of flood-devastated areas of Sikkim.

The plan for early restoration of the road axis to Mangan and the methodology of deploying more resources were assessed by having a look at the landslides and breached areas. The rescue plan and foot evacuation of stranded tourists have also been worked out by BRO in coordination with state authorities.

“A team of BRO has moved on foot to Mangan to work out the best route to evacuate the stranded tourists and locals by road as weather conditions in this border state have not improved and it is continuously raining heavily which may hamper the planned air evacuation,” the BRO official said.

Work on constructing Toe walls using Gabbion Basket is underway from the Dikchu end. Work to restore the road from Dikchu to Rangrang is under progress on a war footing.

“The main challenge is overcoming a 180-meter deep breach and damage to road formation caused by the infamous Namak Nullah ahead of Dikchu. To ensure faster connectivity to Mangan, the PWD has to open a route from Rangrang to Mangan as this stretch is not under the area of responsibility of BRO. BRO has assured all assistance in terms of manpower and machinery to the PWD Dept in opening the road,” the official said.

BRO also deployed multiple heavy machinery and hundreds of labourers to clear the numerous slides on various roads in the Mangan district. Incessant rains since June 11 have caused havoc in North Sikkim.

“BRO cleared multiple slides along Sanklang-Toong road and made it traffic-worthy for light vehicles. Similarly, the road stretch between Naga and Lanthakhola(on Mangan–Chungthang road) has been cleared and the road has been made traffic-worthy. However, due to massive formation breach at Lanthakhola and Rafangkholatraditional slide points have suffered massive formation breach,” the official further said.

“Heavy equipment has been deployed to restore vehicular connectivity across these slide points at the earliest. However, by constructing log bridge, foot connectivity across these slide points has been achieved. Painstaking efforts are being made by BRO to rescue stranded tourists from North Sikkim at the earliest,” he said.

While facing the challenges of the road stretch from Dikchu to Rangrang, Sanklang to Theng Tunnel and Mangan to Chungthang numerous landslides were removed, fallen trees were cleared and sinking areas were restored with lightning speed. The 180m road cut-off at Namak Nullah Road was the reason for closing the Dikchu-Rangrang road so that repair of the damaged portion can be expedited. BRO has reached out to PWD Sikkim to assist in the repair of roads under their area of responsibility especially the road from Rangrang to Mangan opening which is crucial for ensuring connectivity to North Sikkim and devastated Mangan Town. Project Swastik has already constructed two major bridges over the Teeta River in the last 10 days at Toong near Theng tunnel and Phidang near Dikchu which are going to be lifelines for connectivity to North Sikkim.

“Teams of BRO are working in the adverse weather conditions and under continuous rainfall to ensure that the lifeline of North Sikkim is restored to its previous state,” he added.