North Sikkim Heavily Damaged due to Rain; Indian Army Airlifts the Tourists Stuck in Affected Area

The heavy rain has slashed the road connections to the North Sikkim to such a great extent that the tourists blocked in the rain-ravaged North Sikkim had to be evacuated with the help of Army choppers on Sunday. Remarkably, of the total 86 tourists stuck in the tourist destination, only 40 have been evacuated who were compelled to remain confined in their hotel rooms due to the heavy downpours.

A North Sikkim district administration report says, "The 112 Mountain Brigade of the Indian Army posted in North Sikkim and the Air Force carried out helicopter services for the stranded tourists and local people. The following numbers of people were evacuated by the helicopters: Chungtang to Gangtok 42 people, Chungthang to Bagdogra 22, Mangan to Gangtok 11, Chaten to Gangtok two and Mangan to Chungthang seven."

On contacted, the local tourism trade agencies informed that the number of tourists during the heavy rainfall in the North Sikkim was comparably less. Barap Namgyal Bhutia, the owner of Sikkim Holidays Trek and Expedition, stated "We are given to understand that 40-odd tourists were evacuated today (Sunday). They were staying at various hotels in North and there was no shortage of food items. Local hotel and transport associations and the district administration were at hand to render all possible help to them."

The Trishakti Corps of the Indian Army, in their official statement, said, "Helicopters have made several sorties to Gangtok and Sevoke and evacuated approximately 100 personnel which included elderly personnel, women and children. A pregnant woman and her husband were also evacuated from Mangan (the headquarters of North Sikkim)."

The Army also made sure that all possible operations will be conducted in order to rescue other tourists stuck in the northern part of the state. In addition to recovering the tourists, the sick and physically weak will be provided with necessary medical aid as well. In case of the ones being airlifted as well, the army provided the people with ailments before boarding them on the choppers.