Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande visits Sikkim to take stock of flash flood situation

Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande completed a two-day visit to take stock of flash-flood hit Sikkim on Monday, an official said. He made an aerial survey of the affected areas on Sunday in the company of Eastern Army Commander, Lt General Rana Pratap Kalita and GOC Trishakti Corps, Lt General VPS Kaushik, a defence official said. “The Army chief interacted with the Chief Minister of Sikkim PS Tamang and assured him of all assistance,” the official said in a statement. During the visit, he interacted with the troops and commended them for the perseverance and dedication displayed during the challenging time. General Pande also complimented the troops for maintaining high state of operational readiness along the borders of the strategically important state, while the rescue and reconstruction work was being carried out in the affected areas, the official said. The north eastern state shares borders with China, Bhutan and Nepal. Tamang held the review meeting with General Pande, state chief secretary VB Pathak and other officials at his official residence in Gangtok on Monday where coordinated relief and rescue operations along with armed forces were discussed. The Director General of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan briefed Pande about the initial damage assessment and plans for restoration of affected roads and bridges in the state. A plan has been formulated for restoration of infrastructure after the DG BRO along with engineer officers of Trishakti Corps undertook detailed ground reconnaissance over the past the few days and a number of meetings were held with all agencies, the official said. A statement by the Army said that the focus of the rescue and restoration operations is on restoring connectivity with north Sikkim through Chungthang, which was the worst affected in the devastating flood. Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force has started rescue and relief operations in the Himalayan state. Airlifting of the first batch of stranded tourists was carried out in Lachen to Mangan in north Sikkim, officials said. A total 77 tourists, including seven children, were airlifted from Lachung to Pakyong airport, they said. The toll in Sikkim’s flash flood has risen to 34, officials in the state said on Monday, while the administration in adjoining northern West Bengal said that 40 bodies have been fished out from the downstream of Teesta river. Officials, however, said that the figures reported by the two states will have some duplication though they are keeping each other informed of their respective rescue efforts. Ten army jawans are among the flood victims and search is on for 105 people who are still missing.