Rajya Sabha MP, Hishey Lachungpa has visited the affected areas and landslides occurred in Mangan and Dzongu areas in North Sikkim on Saturday.
He was accompanied by the Secretary to Land Revenue & Disaster Management, Tsegyal Tashi, Special Secretary, Rinzing Chewang, District Collector (North Sikkim), senior officials and engineers among others.
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The incessant rainfall has triggered numerous landslides in different areas of North District. The reports have been received of damages of houses, crops and private properties in Dzongu constituency due to landslides occurred last night. North Sikkim has still been cut off from the rest of the State in the road connectivity. However, restoration works have been going on in the full swing.
The team led by the Rajya Sabha MP has assessed the damages caused and interacted with the people and also them to provide all required help from the State Government.
Land Revenue & Disaster Management Secretary has also conducted a meeting with the local people and Nagar Panchayats of Mangan. During the meeting, the people have requested the department for the proper training of Rafong Khola which has became a trouble spot for the people.
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On the same, the Secretary informed that a Detailed Project Report for model demonstrative project for landslide mitigation of Rafong Khola has been submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs. He added that the focus of the project would be to map the flow of water and channelize it properly.
The people also demanded that GREF, which looks after the road connectivity in North Sikkim, should construct a proper drainage system along the road so as to prevent the damage by water erosion. They also asserted that bridges and roads should be designed by keeping the local conditions and of the highest quality.
The team also visited Dzongu where several houses have been damaged by the mudslides that occurred around 10:30 pm last night. However, there were no reports of the loss of human life and the people have been evacuated to safer places.
The landslide has damaged houses, cardamom fields, livestock and horticulture crops. MP has directed the District Administration to conduct the damage assessment and disbursed the ex-gratia to the affected people immediately.
Roads and bridges department is also working tirelessly to restore the road connectivity in the district in the earliest. Energy & Power Department has restored electricity in Mangan and working on restoring electricity in Chungthang and Dzongu. Police Department has evacuated all the stranded tourists from Mangan town and temporary bridges have been built by the Forest Department.
North Sikkim district administration is carrying out a detailed assessment of the damages. Border Roads Organization has been working to restore road connectivity for Mangan and Chungthang. The Army has decided to provide helicopter services to bring out the stranded tourists and public from Chungthang, Lachen and Lachung in North Sikkim.
It has been informed that the food stock in the district was adequate and strict monitoring of essential commodities is being done by the district administration.