• Source:JND
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Sikkim Landslides: Rain and inclement weather conditions on Sunday halted state government’s plan to airlift tourists stranded at Lachung and Chungthang in north Sikkim. Most parts of the region remained cut off because of damages on roads, bridges and human habitations suffered during landslides since last weekend, officials said.

Around 2,000 tourists were stranded in north Sikkim's Lachung and Chungthang, after continuous heavy rainfall triggered massive landslides and floods in Mangan district. At least six people have died so far after the heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in the Himalayan state, damaging properties and crippling road connectivity, power, food, and mobile networks in many areas. Among the tourists, around 1,200 are domestic, 10 from Bangladesh, three from Nepal and two from Thailand, are stuck in Lachung while the remaining are stranded in Chungthang.

With air operations called off for the time being, travel and tour operators and the state government have decided to ferry the tourists in vehicles from Lachung to Tung from Monday.

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“Several vehicles are already stranded between Tung and Mangan because of the landslides. The tourists will board these vehicles and disembark at places where the roads are damaged. They will walk to the location where the next batch of vehicles were available” Sonam Lachungpa, president, Travel Agents Association of Sikkim (TAAS), said.

Chief minister Prem Singh Tamang said on Saturday that air operation was the only way to evacuate the tourists.

“The weather didn’t allow it. Air lifting the tourists seems impossible at this moment,” a police officer posted at Mangan said.

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“The tourists are all safe but many of them are getting restless,” said Tshering Thendup Bhutia, the state tourism minister who is camping at the affected area.

Meanwhile, heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy falls are very likely to continue over sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and northeast India during next 4-5 days, as per the Met office.