Damages due to flash flood worth thousands of crores of rupees: Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang on Friday said that the Himalayan state has incurred damages worth thousands of crores of rupees in the flash flood but the exact details will be known after a committee is formed and it completes its analysis. Tamang, who visited flood-affected areas in Rangpo town in Pakyong district and assured displaced people lodged in relief camps of all possible help, asserted that the state government’s first priority is to rescue stranded people and provide them immediate relief. At least 22 people, including seven army jawans, have been killed while 103 others remained missing after a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim in the early hours of Wednesday triggered the flash flood. “There have been damages worth thousands of crores of rupees. We cannot give exact details about damages, it will be revealed once a committee is formed and it completes its analysis. Our first priority is to save those who are stranded and provide them immediate relief,” Golay said. Defence officials have said that as the search for the missing Indian Army personnel continues, the Indian Army is constantly providing assistance to the affected people in terms of food, and medical aid and extending communication facilities to civilians and tourists stranded in North Sikkim. The Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday constituted an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) to make an assessment of damages caused by the flash flood. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also approved the release of both the installments of central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to Sikkim, amounting to Rs 44.80 crores in advance, for the year 2023-24, to help the state in providing relief measures to the affected people. With inputs from PTI