CM tours affected areas around Gangtok

GANGTOK, 19 Sept [IPR]: To make an assessment of damages caused to houses and property in the rural and urban areas owing to the 6.8 magnitude earthquake which occurred at about 6.11 pm yesterday, the Chief Minister of Sikkim, Pawan Chamling accompanied by Cabinet Ministers, MLAs, Zilla Adhakshya East, Chief Secretary and  Secretaries and HODs, Members of GMC and East District Administration visited the Tashiling Secretariat, offices in and around the Secretariat complex, Sikkim Press and Police Head Quarter in the morning, today.
The Chief Minister also visited areas in and around Gangtok and gave immediate relief to the locals. He visited the collapsed house and cow shed of Dhan Maya Chettri and the collapsed four and a half storied building of Raju Chhetri at Lumsey, Gangtok. The Chief Minister gave Rs 30,000 to Dhan Maya and Rs 50,000 to Raju Chhetri as ex-gratia payment.

The Chief Minister held a meeting at the Police Headquarter to discuss the modalities in dealing with the unfortunate incident that occurred last evening. He directed the Chief Secretary and HODs to mobilize and oversee the minute-to-minute development of the situation.
He also directed to the concerned authority, to clear the debris of buildings to prevent further damage to other property. He also directed the concerned authorities to make an assessment of the disaster and take up immediate repair work to restore the electricity and road communication in the state.
The CM also directed that the Chief Minister’s Office be relocated to Samman Bhawan for the time being and to make necessary temporary arrangements for other departments if necessary. He also asked the Core Commander Lt. General, Vinod Bhatia of Sukuna, Siliguri to coordinate with the state administration and share information. He also asked the Army for restoration of border roads and provide interim help to people with first aid and communication.
The Governor of Sikkim, Balmiki Prasad Singh who was at New Delhi returned to the state today. The Chief Minister updated the Governor about the present situation of the state at the Police Head Quarter, Gangtok.
Discussing the present situation of the state, the Governor asked the Core Commander, Vinod Bhatia for the mobilization of the Army and relief to the people. The Governor also asked the Army to coordinate with the State administration to assess the available information and damages in the state. He also took information from the Chief Secretary and concerned HODs about the disaster and necessary arrangements. He suggested holding a meeting tomorrow at 2.00 p.m at Raj Bhawan to take further necessary action to fight against this tragic situation.
An emergency meeting was held at Gram Vikash Bhawan today under the chairmanship of Minister RMDD, CB Karki to make an assessment of damages caused to houses and property in the rural areas. During the meeting the Minister issued instructions to all the ADC’s (Dev), DPOs and BDOs for assessment and gathering damage reports to be submitted to the Head Office.
The damage reports should include details of life, houses, livestock and standing properties. They were also directed to make an assessment of relief material required and to horizontally coordinate with their district line counterparts for relief and rehabilitation.
According to recent information received from the district, the foundation of the hostel building of Soreng Sr. Secondary School has been totally damaged and many pucca houses at Dodak, West Sikkim have been extensively damaged. Three houses of Phunchenpong, West Sikkim have been totally damaged and the people have been evacuated from it. The shopping complex of Soreng has also been extensively damaged. To deal with the situation a State Control Room has been established at Gangtok Bazar in front of the Tourism Department.