Chief Secretary begins two-day tour of North district

SANCTIONS RS 20 LAKH FOR DEMOLITION OF CHUNGTHANG FOOD GODOWN
MANGAN, 23 Aug: Chief Secretary Karma Gyatso Bhutia started his two-day tour of North district today accompanied by the Land Revenue, Ecclesiastical, Road & Bridges and Food & Civil Supplies Secretaries and Chief Engineers of Power Department, UD&HD and Buildings & Housing.
The entourage was given a warm reception at Hotel Tamarind in Mangan by DC North, TW Khangsarpa and other officials of the district including Sr. SP North, BK Tamang.  The CS first visited the slide spot at Khedum near Lachung where the road to Lachung has been blocked due to huge land slides.  Here, the Secretary was given a warm welcome by the public and Pipon of Lachung in a traditional way.
The CS also interacted here with the BRO officials headed by Chief Engineer, Rajiv Sawney who explained about the road conditions. The Chief Engineer Power department informed that the work for the restoration will start from tomorrow.
The Lachung Pipon, Karma Lachunpa and Tenchung Lachunpa placed a demand petition to the CS which includes the construction of alternate road at the spot at Khedum towards the left bank of the river, construction of log bridge at the river, the restoration of electricity which has been damaged by the slide at Khedum and settling the ITBP dispute with local people in entering Domang area in Lachung.  The CS directed the DC North to hold a meeting with ITBP officials on the matter and also directed that the Pipon and some representatives of Lachung should be involved in the meeting.
The CS also held a meeting at Chungthang monastery with the public of Chungthang Subdivision including Lachen people.  The panchayat president, Chungthang GPU, Lendup Lepcha while delivering his welcome speech highlighted about the order of dismantling 13 buildings at Chungthang Bazaar which has been declared as unsafe, construction of proper rim treatment at Chungthang by Teesta Urja, increase in disbursement of kerosene in Chungthang area, construction of SDM, SDPO and BDO quarters etc.
Speaking at the programme, Mr. Bhutia stated that the Government of Sikkim has accorded top priority to the development and reconstruction of all assets that have been damaged by last year’s earthquake. The Chief Secretary sanctioned Rs 20 lakh for the demolition of Chungthang food godown and further gave positive assurance regarding all the demands placed by the people of Chungthang.
At the same time, the CS has asked the concerned officials of the BRO to extend full support towards community and social development of Chungthang while officials of BSNL were asked to undertake immediate restoration of telecommunication system.
He also informed that the 1200 MW power plant by Teesta Urja would be completed by the year 2013. Assuring to transform Chungthang into a model town as it is the gateway to North Sikkim, he stated that the state shall leave no stone unturned in disbursing fair packages for reconstruction of entire assets that has been damaged by the earth quake.
Further he informed that till the date the state government has received only Rs 200 crore out of the Rs 1000 crore from the Government of India which was announced by the PM as Earthquake relief fund.
Representative from Chungthang public, Tseten Lepcha highlighted the demands for the compensation of houses damaged by excessive blasting carried out by Teesta Urja where a report of 170 houses at Chungthang has already been submitted by the DC and also the dispute regarding the Gurudongmar Lake. While responding to the dispute of Gurudongmar Lake, the CS informed that the government will take up necessary steps to resolve the issue.
Also, the Secretary Land & Revenue highlighted that Rs. 50 lakh has been sanctioned for the construction of SDM quarter while Secretary, Ecclesiastical Department informed that Rs 2 crore has been sanctioned by the state government for reconstruction of Chungthang Monastery and Rs 5 lakh has already been allotted to the members of the monastery as reconstruction token.
The Secretary Food & Civil Supplies informed that the government is making a provision for open market of kerosene to the people where the subsidy for the BPL family will be credited to the bank.  She also highlighted that the department has been providing buffer stock of essential commodities to the district.
Similarly, the Chief Engineer Power department informed that by the next 15 days proper electricity supply to Lachung will be provided while the GM BSNL informed that by the next 15 to 20 days the service will improve and the Chief Engineer BRO assured proper road condition within the next two months.
On his way back to Mangan, the CS also met with the public of Naga where he was informed about the under construction multi-purpose play ground by former chairman Nim Tshering Lepcha.
The panchayat members of Dzongu headed by Panchayat Secretary Lum/Gor/Sangtok GPU also placed a demand petition to the CS related to the timely disbursement of CMRHM funds and establishment of State Bank of Sikkim at BAC Passindang in Dzongu.