Rain racks North Sikkim

The bridge over the Rafong Khola in North Sikkim after it was damaged

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT,  Sep 15, 2018, Gangtok: The heavy rains of the past few days have wreaked havoc in North Sikkim and caused some damages in other parts of the Himalayan state with bridges and culverts being washed away and landslides affecting scores of houses and buildings.

In the worst hit North Sikkim, the district headquarters of Mangan has been cut off from Gangtok because of a landslide at Ambithang. The road between Mangan and Chungthang has also been completely cut off after the bridge was washed away at Rafong Khola.

An official release issued here said there were many more damages in other stretches of the Mangan-Chungthang Road and the newly laid Bailey bridge near Toong has also been damaged.

"The road network in Dzongu has been damaged at multiple places with major landslides. The entire area of Upper Dzongu has been cut off due to landslides near Mantam Lake," the release said.

The rains and widespread landslides have also affected about 50 houses with some of them suffering major damages.

The houses near Rafong Khola are in a precarious position since the landslips are still active in the area.

The residents of the houses that are in danger have been directed to shift to safer locations. The district administration also ordered the closure of schools on Friday to ensure the safety of students.

Karma R. Bonpo, the district collector of North Sikkim, and other senior officials have been closely monitoring the situation.

Bonpo led a team of officials on a field visit of the worst affected areas in Mangan, Mangshilla and Dzongu on Thursday.

"Tarpaulins have been provided to cover the slip areas and residents have been asked to move to safer location...The Border Roads Organisation is working on restoration of the road network in the district. Relief and ex-gratia as per norms will be released to the affected people," said the release.

Ganesh Khanal, the joint secretary of the Sikkim disaster management department, said the officials of his department had spread out in the North district to assess the damage caused by the rains. "By tomorrow, we should know the exact quantum of the damage caused by the rains," he told The Telegraph.

Khanal said apart from North Sikkim, the other three districts had also suffered few damages.

"Not much of damages in East and South districts, but some stretches of roads in West Sikkim have been affected by the landslides. There is, however, no shortage of essential commodities in any part of the state," he said.