Phimchu bridged

Vishnu Neopaney

A bridge across Phimchu, a stream in north Sikkim ahead of Lachen towards Thangu, was washed away by a flash-flood on 10 September cutting off the regions further north and inconveniencing not just the few locals who reside that far north in Sikkim but also the sizeable army and ITBP deployment there. Vehicular connectivity was an urgent requirement, and despite inclement weather, the Border Roads Organisation spanned the khola and restored connectivity in 11 days.

Joint inspection pins blame on Sneha Kinetic

PROJECT DEVELOPER IGNORED BDO NOTICE TO UNDERTAKE PROTECTIVE MEASURES BEFORE STARTING EXCAVATIONS ABOVE DIKCHU
WANGCHUK BHUTIA
MANGAN, 05 May: DC [North], CP Dhakal, visited the flash-flood hit Dikchu PHC yesterday and assured that if the incident was proven to have been caused by negligence of Dikchu HEP developer Sneha Kinetic, then strict legal action will be initiated against them. The flash flood was triggered when muck from a Dikchu HEP surge shaft tunnel being excavated below Tumin [directly above Dikchu Naya Bazaar] slid off and poured into the Kaluk jhora which broke its banks on Thursday night deposited slush into the PHC compound. Work on the surge shaft excavation has been suspended for now and the project developer directed by the district authorities to depute men and machinery to clear out the muck from the PHC compound.
The Dikchu PHC has lost its power and drinking water to the flood and even the generator has been damaged.
The DC said that this was a matter of serious concern. The DC further assured that necessary priority will be given to the safety of the PHC and the market area.
It is further learned that the project developer had been directed by the Mangan BDO three months back to undertake necessary protection works before beginning excavation of the surge shaft tunnel. BDO Chiran Rizal, when contacted, informed that his office had received no response to its notice from the project developer. The district authorities, it is informed is processing follow-up action on Sneha Kinetic’s non-compliance of the notice issued by the BDO office.
Meanwhile, following a joint inspection of the spot below Tanek, SDM Mangan, PW Lepcha, confirmed that the flash-flood had been triggered due to excavation work on an approach road to the under construction surge shaft tunnel of the 96 MW Dikchu Hydroelectric Project.

Number of families displaced by Rolep flashflood rises to 14

Only the plinth remains of where a house once stood at Rolep. The house below had a miraculous escape as the flashflood, whose debris litters the foreground, bypassed it.

EPCS CHURCH, CASINO MAHJONG AND OTHERS COME OUT WITH SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE
GANTOK, 13 June: Following the tragic incident at Rolep, 14 kms from Rongli bazaar, where a flashflood on the jhora flowing through the town washed away five homes and claimed seven lives on 07 June, support has been pouring in from various sections of the Sikkimese society.
Casino Mahjong of the May Fair group of Hotel Industries today handed over a cheque of Rs. 1 lakh for the seven affected families, reconstruction of other five severely damaged houses and other immediate relief purposes to the Zilla Panchayat.
Area MLA Laxuman Lepcha and Additional District Collector (Development), East, handed over Rs. 50,000 along with the work orders under the Chief Minister’s Rural Housing Scheme for reconstruction of the fully damaged houses. Zilla Adhyaksha East, Bimal Dawari and ADC (Development), MN Dhakal laid the foundation of CMRHM houses of one Min Bahadur Rai at Rolep.
Mr. Dhakal, while speaking to NOW!, said that the government has taken prompt action regarding rehabilitation of the landslide victims and started reconstruction of damaged houses. He informed that in the first stage, the government is reconstructing the five houses which were washed away and seven other severely damaged houses.
Besides this, Block Development Officer (BDO) Rongli on his visit to upper Rolep [Nibarey] above the devastated Rolep found two more houses severely damaged there. With this the total number of families displaced by the 07 June flashflood has gone up to 14.
At present, the 14 families have been given shelter by around 70 families in and around Rolep located in safer areas, informed Mr Dhakal.
The district administration has provided all necessary essential commodities to the displaced including clothes, it is informed.
However, road connectivity is in a deplorable state due to back cutting and upgradation of the present road which is a major concern of the locals there. The whole area has become calamity prone due to the flash flood that hit Rolep, observed ADC, Development.  On the other hand, the ADC has assured to look into the matter adding that the administration has very limited skilled manpower to fight such calamities.
EPCS Church of Church Road, Gangtok has also come out in support announcing that the church will take care of the schooling of Amrita Rai, who was orphaned in the tragic incident. Amrita’s cousin brother who has been taking care of her since the incident has given his consent to the Church regarding the same.
Elder Andrew Rai of the EPCS Church, stated that they are willing to take care of Amrita if her relatives and the government allows the church to do so. They will bear all the expenses for her schooling till class XII, he offered.
The EPCS Church has also donated food grains, clothes, blankets and cash of Rs.7,000 for the victims which was handed over to the Zilla Panchayat.  Similarly, the Dalapchand school children have generously contributed an amount of Rs 3,220 to the victim’s families. The contribution from Casino Mahjong was handed over by the General Manager Sherap Lepcha at Rolep today.

Flash-flood tears through Rolep, claims 7 lives

GANGTOK, 07 June: A flash flood in Rolep, under Rongli sub-division in East Sikkim, early this morning has claimed seven lives. Heavy overnight downpour is believed to have triggered a flash-flood at around 4:30 AM this morning on the jhora that flows through Rolep. Within minutes, five houses in the area were damaged beyond repair with some were completely washed away and seven lives from four families lost to the flash-flood.
Rolep is situated around 12 kilometers from Rongli Bazaar.
In this unfortunate incident, four members of a single family - Bir Man Rai, Mani Maya Rai, Tika Devi Rai and Susan Rai lost their lives. Others who also perished in the flash flood are Mihan Rai, Mahendra Prasad Rai and Chandra Kumari Rai.
SDM [Rongli], PD Rai, while speaking to NOW! over the phone, informed that all the seven dead bodies were recovered after a joint rescue operation, the last body pulled out from the debris at around 8 p.m. He further informed that there were also reports of many serious and minor injuries to people due to landslides in-and-around Rolep. There are around 14 minor and major landslides at various places from Lamaten towards Rolep, making access difficult. The communication network has also been severely affected.
As things stand, many families in the area have been shifted to safer locations with the help of panchayat members and local residents, the SDM further added.
District Collector [East], D. Anandan, is camped at Rongli and has taken charge of the situation and has been monitoring the rescue operations throughout the day. The district administration has also announced ex-gratia payment of Rs 1.5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. Chief Minister, Pawan Chamling is scheduled to visit the affected area on Friday, it is informed.

Flash-flood on Jiring Khola wreaks havoc on Lachung

LACHUNG, 05 June: Sunday afternoon’s heavy downpour triggered a flash-flood on Jiring Khola about a kilometre short of Lachung, damaging five houses at Singring in Lachung, North Sikkim. The flash flood broke its banks right above the village and diverted the flow of the stream towards the village.
A building and a wooden house belonging to Thakchuk Lachungpa and another house belonging to Khetuk Lachungpa have been damaged. The flash flood also damaged the under construction house of Chyangchok Lachungpa and Dup Lachungpa. Apart from these, four under construction CMRHM houses and a guest house of the Fisheries Department along with a fish pond have also been damaged.
The flood also damaged three RCC bridges connecting Singring and Thomchu and another bridge on the way to Lachung Monastery. Land belonging to Thungchung Lachungpa and Hooking Lachungpa were also damaged along with standing crop of potatoes, cabbage and apple orchards. Fortunately, no loss of life has been reported as the flood occurred in day time and people managed to escape in time.
One Sonam Lachungpa’s house along with several other houses are, however, still in danger.
Villagers comprising of women, youth and senior citizens have been engaged in putting together a temporary log bridge to cross over the river which is an urgent need. The drinking water supply line to Singring and Thomchu was extensively damaged and villagers are now fetching water from the nearby river. The affected people are being housed in a temporary shed while some villagers have sought shelter at Bitchu nearby with relatives.
While speaking to NOW!, Tenzing Lachungpa informed that diversion of the river and jhora training of the river is urgently required to avoid further damage. Meanwhile, the area MLA, TW Lepcha, SDM Chungthang and BDO Chungthang also visited the spot and took stock of the damages. A team from the Irrigation department headed by Asst Engineer, K Jigme Bhutia also visited the affected areas.

Jhora floods NH31A with debris at Rambi, traffic disrupted

GANGTOK, 17 June: Traffic along NH-31A came to a halt for more than 12 hours starting last night when vehicles on either side of the highway were stranded near Rambi on the West Bengal side after a jhora there broke its banks and brought down water, slush and debris. This is the first NH 31A disruption this monsoon.
The Janmukti Chalak Mahasangh president, Milan Pradhan, informs that heavy rains along the highway on the West Bengal side last night triggered a flash flood in the jhora which flows down from the lower reaches of Darjeeling at 27th Mile, near the NHPC dam site, where it meets the Teesta.

Flashflood washes away equipment worth Rs. 1.50 crore from Dikchu HEP site

VILLAGER SPENDS NIGHT TRAPPED BETWEEN HIGH CLIFFS AND RAGING DIKCHU KHOLA
WANGCHUK BHUTIA
DIKCHU, 02 May: Equipment worth Rs. 1.50 crore was washed away from a hydel project site on the Dikchu khola here on Sunday when the hill stream broke its banks following heavy rainfall in its catchment area on the higher reaches. Water level at Dikchu khola [which starts from the confluence of Baghca and Ratey Chu higher up] surged late in the afternoon and washed away the temporary bridge thrown across it to the Dickhu Hydro-Electric Project site. It started raining at around 3 p.m., and was at its most destructive at 6 p.m. Apart from the washed away bridge, the raging river also swept away equipment from the site and trapped one person on the far bank. He was rescued from his predicament early Monday morning.
Nar Bahadur Pradhan of Lower Rakdong was stranded to the far bank of the river on the northern side all of last night after the bridge was washed away at around 6 in the evening.
AS word spread of Dikchu khola in spate, people who rushed to the spot witnessed heavy equipment being carried away by the khola, which this morning, after the flood waters had subsided, appeared misleadingly tame. Only the wreckage of a truck, stuck in the shallow waters, standing evidence of the fury with which the stream had broken out last evening.
As for Nar Bahadur Pradhan, who had crossed over to collect fodder for his cattle, he was struck throughout the night with a sheer cliff behind him and a raging Dikchu khola in front. There was no alternate escape for him, and after the waters had subsided a bit towards nightfall, his relatives and fellow villagers used ropes to reach him some refreshments.