The death toll from flash floods in the Indian Himalayas increased to 42, dozens of people are still missing.
KOLKATA/NEW DELHI,Oct 6 (Reuters) – At least 42 people died this week after a glacial lake overflowed its banks and caused flash floods in the Indian Himalayas, government officials said today. Friday as rescuers continued to search for nearly 150 missing people.
Lhonak Lake in the northeastern mountain state of Sikkim on Wednesday overflowed after a downpour triggered torrential rains and apparent avalanches, causing massive flooding on the Teesta river.
It was one of the worst disasters in the region in more than 50 years and the latest in a series of extreme weather events that caused widespread damage in the Himalayas in South Asia, which scientists said Science says it’s due to climate change.
Authorities in Sikkim said the disaster, which comes ahead of the popular tourist and festival season in the picturesque state, has affected the lives of 22,000 people.
Javed Ahmed Ansari, 44, a Teesta Valley resident and owner of a rafting company, said: “We got calls from people saying the river level could rise at 3am and We had to run away to escape.” “We ran towards the hill in the forest… We saw houses being swept away. I only saw the first floor of our house full of sand, everything was submerged in water.”
Officials involved in the project told Reuters that scientists and government agencies are working on an early warning system for glacial flooding in Lake Lhonak, which could give residents more time. evacuation time if the system is fully operational.
Sikkim chief secretary Vijay Bhushan Pathak, a top official, said rescuers had found 20 bodies in the state and 22 in neighboring downstream state West Bengal.
Among these 22 people, 6 Indian soldiers were swept away by the Sikkim sea. Pathak told Reuters by phone that photographs of the remaining 16 people would be circulated in Sikkim to determine whether they belonged to the state or West Bengal.
He said the number of missing people rose to 142, including 15 soldiers, as people stepped up searches as the weather improved on Friday.
Military helicopters tried four times to evacuate stranded tourists in higher reaches of the state but failed due to bad weather, Pathak said, adding that they would try again on Saturday.
Bandana Chettri, a senior official at the national tourism ministry, said all tourists, including more than 50 foreigners, were safe.
GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES TO CARRY
Earlier on Friday, Tseten Bhutia, a state official, said relief and rescue teams were facing difficulties as areas of northern Sikkim were completely cut off.
Bhutia said so far, about 2,400 people have been evacuated and 7,600 people are in relief camps. Private and government institutions have been closed in the region until October 15.
Fifteen bridges were washed away in the state, hampering rescue operations. The Indian government said all bridges downstream of NHPC’s (NHPC.NS) Teesta-V hydropower plant were submerged or washed away.
Photos and videos posted on social media showed roads and paths covered with silt and rocks, stranded vehicles and small streams of mud flowing down hillsides.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said in a social media post that military equipment, including guns and explosives, had been swept away by the Teesta River.
Local MP Pradeep Kumar Barma told news agency ANI that in a neighboring district in West Bengal state, people picked up a mortar shell which then exploded, killing a child and injuring six people.
The meteorological department said Sikkim received 101 mm (four inches) of rain in the first five days of October, more than double the normal level, causing floods worse than October 1968, killing about 1,000 people. network. The India Meteorological Department said heavy rain was forecast in many parts of the region on Friday, but the intensity of the downpours was expected to subside.
Sikkim, a small Buddhist state of about 650,000 people located in the mountains between Nepal, Bhutan and China, has been isolated from Siliguri, West Bengal, because the main road connecting it to the rest of the country has been closed. collapse.
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