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.