The weather department IMD has put Sikkim on red alert ever since the hilly state has been hit by flash floods and multiple landslides. As per reports over 2000 tourists are stranded in Sikkim and the state government is planning to evacuate them via choppers. As per reports, at least 9 people have died this week and another 2,000 visitors are stuck in Sikkim due to landslides and floods brought on by incessant rain. As per officials in Nepal’s Taplejung district, which borders Sikkim, four more people have died after a landslide caused by rains carried away the home they were resting in. The Mangan district, which includes north Sikkim and is located roughly 100 km (60 miles) north of the state capital Gangtok, had multiple landslides as a result of heavy rainfall, according to the local government of the state in northeastern India.
As per reports, Sikkim has been witnessing incessant rain for the past 36 hours. Multiple areas along the road leading to north Sikkim have sustained damage, cutting off access to the district. Eleven of the tourists were foreign nationals. “The stranded tourists are all safe but we have not been able to evacuate them because of the damage,” he said.
“Around 1,200 tourists, including 15 foreign Nationals, are stranded at Lachung in North Sikkim’s Mangan district. The office of the chief secretary has already initiated talks with the Centre so that the stranded tourists may be airlifted,” said a top official of the state’s tourism and aviation department as quoted by a portal.
Attempts are also being made to open alternative routes so that the tourists may be safely evacuated by road. It is pertinent to mention here that in October 2023, Sikkim was hit by a flash-flood triggered by an outburst of a glacial lake located above 5,000 metres in North Sikkim. More than 100 people were killed in the shocking natural calamity.