SIKKIM RATTLED

A damaged house in West Sikkim. [foto: IPR]

36 DEAD, 1000 HOUSES DESTROYED
GANGTOK, 19 Sept: The figures say it all about the magnitude of the earthquake that shook Sikkim and its inhabitants on the evening of 18 September- 36 dead and counting, hundreds injured, all major roads blocked [at least initially], 5,500 army men engaged in the relief and rescue operations, another 700 ITBP personnel also engaged in the operations, 9 helicopters in the skies, about 2,000 people at the army relief camps and another 100 families evacuated in West District alone where the army has not made inroads yet and around 1000 houses destroyed all over the state with around a lakh [official estimates] damaged. There have been numerous aftershocks as well but with no fresh damages reported. So strong was the earthquake that tremors were felt in Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Bangladesh and right up to New Delhi.
Till Monday afternoon, the death toll was 35, however, late in the evening it was reported that one more person succumbed at the STNM Hospital. Lobsang Zangpa, a 32 year old teaching at Thumi Sambhota, Gangtok, succumbed to head injuries.

At 6.9 on the Richter Scale and with the epicenter within the state of Sikkim, just over 60 km [as a crow flies], northwest from Gangtok the damage was enormous even with just the preliminary reports. It will only be over the next few days that a proper idea of the scale of damage can be documented. The epicenter of the quake is reported to have been in Pegong, a few kilometers short of Chungthang in north Sikkim even as some estimates put it further northwest around the Jonsong Peak region on the Indo-Nepal border on North Sikkim and the earth trembled intensely for almost a minute.
North district suffered the brunt of the earthquake and also recorded the highest number of casualties at 24 [at the time of the filing of this report], followed by East district with 6 killed, 4 killed in West and 1 in south Sikkim.
Almost all the deaths which occurred yesterday were due to falling boulders and landslides. The numbers could still rise as a bus with 24 GREF personnel is reportedly stuck in a precarious condition in Tong, North Sikkim.
Army officials inform that they have not been able to reach the location due to bad weather and road conditions. The bus is reportedly in a zone where boulders are known to shoot down frequently.
Colonel Ravi Patel informed NOW! that they expect to reach the place by noon Tuesday should the weather remain stable. “We have not been able to reach the location which is known by the name 86 KM, some distance short of Tong; but we expect to be there in another 12 hours,” he said. It would be useless to fly there at night with zero visibility.
In a similar incident, about 10 persons were killed when the Teesta Urja bus in which they were travelling got stuck at the Teesta Urja project site between Mangan and Chungthang. Another 7 people were killed in landslides in Chungthang, 1 in Lachen, 1 in Mangan and 2 soldiers of the Indian Army in Tong. One of the jawans was from Bareilly and the other from Uttarkhand. Another 10 soldiers were reportedly injured and have been evacuated. At least 3 jeeps belonging to the army were also washed away in the slides in north Sikkim.
In East Sikkim, 2 people were killed in Sherathang in separate incidents of landslides, 1 in Rangpo and 3 in Singtam all due to falling stones or landslides.
In West district in Soreong sub division 4 people were killed and in Jorethang a 23 year old lady was killed in a house collapse.
In fact there have been a number of reports of buildings collapsing with one in Singtam and one each at Chongay and Dikchu in East Sikkim. In west district too many houses suffered damages and families have been evacuated. Reports of damages and casualties are still coming in.
Following the intense tremor, an emergency meeting was convened by the Chief Minister at his official residence at Mintokgang at around 8 pm Sunday, followed by a review meeting of the damages this morning. Following this the Chief Minister along with cabinet colleagues and officials conducted an inspection of the damages in areas surrounding Gangtok.
The army had swung into action the night before itself. The Core Commander based at Sukna, Lt General Vinod Bhatt informed that the army had started its rescue mission at around 8:30 pm Sunday night. Aerial reconnaissance was conducted along with surveys in all the affected areas including the border areas. “Wherever people were seen to be in unsafe places, they were evacuated to army camps where we are providing food, shelter and medical aid,” he said.
The ITBP also launched search and rescue operations in Pegong area of North Sikkim and two ITBP buildings in the area are reported to have collapsed. In fact all operations were hampered due to inclement weather and the power blackout. Most parts of the state are still in darkness even as power supply was restored in Gangtok and its surroundings areas Monday.
It is informed that the army has set up 13 cook houses in the affected areas and is conducting foot patrols and aerial surveys in the remotest of regions. Paramilitary personnel are also being brought in to assist in the operations especially heli-borne operations where foot patrols are difficult to reach. Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from Kolkata have also been deployed with 2 platoons headed for Chungthang and another 2 platoons for Gangtok. Quick Response Teams of the Civil Defence were also deployed in places in and around Gangtok.
A major concern for all was the condition of the roads with all major road networks being blockaded at various places including the NH31A. The road to north Sikkim was also blocked and the Singtam-Mangan axis opened by evening. The army and BRO have to be commended for having restored the national highway to traffic by 1 pm this afternoon despite blockages caused by slides and slush at numerous places. By this evening the road to Mangan had also been cleared to traffic. However the road to Chungthang and to Lachen and Lachung still remain a concern as they are reported to have been washed away in the slides.
The central government along with the Indian Army has deployed engineers and also airlifted doctors to Sikkim to assist in the relief operations.