Army rescues 300 more tourists stranded, over 100 houses DAMAGED in landslide

The Indian Army rescued 300 more tourists who were stranded in a North Sikkim district owing to landslides and roadblocks, an official statement said. The troops of the Striking Lion Division, Trishakti Corps on Sunday assisted 300 stranded tourists at Chungthang in Northern Sikkim to cross over a temporary bridge after an existing bridge was washed away to further move towards the state capital Gangtok. The stranded tourists were provided food, a resting place and medical comfort by the Army. Last week, personnel from the Trishakti Corps of the Indian Army assisted the Sikkim government in rescuing 3,500 tourists who were stranded in the North Sikkim district, the statement said. The North Sikkim District Collector (DC) Hem Kumar Chettri on Sunday said that no fresh permits would be issued to tourists to visit the picturesque district in view of weather-related vagaries, in addition to the restoration works which are underway on roads which were damaged extensively due to landslides even as all stranded tourists have been rescued. The District Collector thanked the BRO, GREF, ITBP, Army and district officials for the successful evacuation of the tourists “We have decided to not issue fresh permits to tourists to visit North Sikkim for the time being due to the restoration of roads underway between Mangan-Chungthang. Our immediate priority is to restore roads damaged due to landslides and heavy rains and once the road connectivity is restored then we will allow the tourists to come,” Chettri said. Meanwhile, torrential rain triggered multiple landslides in the West Sikkim district, damaging close to 100 houses and sweeping away bridges, officials said.
The downpour caused flash floods along the upper reaches of College Khola Valley, causing maximum impact at Simphok, where a major bridge was swept away, they said on Sunday. The Dentam Sub Division under Gyalshing district also bore the brunt of the landslides, as houses and roads were damaged, the officials said.
Agricultural land and livestock have also been affected. A suspension bridge over College Khola at Lower Sapung has been washed away due to the mudslides, too, they said. Authorities provided immediate relief to those affected, the officials said, adding, restoration work of roads and bridges has been started.