Sikkim flash flood toll rises to 37; inclement weather hampers air evacuation

Gangtok: The toll in the Sikkim flash flood has increased to 37, while 78 people remain missing six days after the deluge was triggered by a cloudburst, officials said on Wednesday.

Pakyong district accounted for the largest number of fatalities at 24, including 10 army personnel, followed by seven in Gangtok, four in Mangan and two in Namchi districts, they said.

Another 78 people are still missing in several towns in the Teesta river basin across the four districts that were flooded, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) said.

Around 6,001 people have been either rescued or evacuated from the flood-affected areas and the number of injured persons is 30, it said.

The count of people affected by the natural calamity stood at 87,300.

A total of 3,773 people were rendered homeless and provided shelter in 24 relief camps in the four districts, the SSDMA said.

The road network of the state was severely disrupted as 16 bridges, including nine in the heavily-ravaged Mangan district alone, were either submerged by the gushing waters or washed away, it added.

Meanwhile, evacuation of stranded tourists and locals from north Sikkim could not take place by air on Wednesday due to inclement weather, a state government official said.

"Due to unfavourable weather condition, the air evacuation operation from Lachung and Lachen in north Sikkim could not take place today," Planning & Development Secretary R C Bhutia told reporters.

The evacuation operation by air from north Sikkim will resume as soon as the weather improves, he added.