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In the aftermath of the devastating landslide that struck North Sikkim, the Indian Army has been working relentlessly under extreme weather and hazardous terrain conditions to assist locals and stranded tourists.
Lachen village, the main hub for tourism in the region, has been completely cut off. The Army has established foot connectivity to the village and reached out to 113 stranded tourists, who will be evacuated soon. On June 3, nearly 30 tourists, including some foreign nationals, were successfully airlifted by military helicopters. Meanwhile, search operations continue with urgency to locate the six individuals still missing after the landslide struck a military camp in the Chatten area of North Sikkim. A rescuer from the army, who remains deployed at the spot of the landslide in Chatten that occurred on June 1, said that nine personnel have died in the incident. He added that the area had witnessed incessant rainfall from May 30, leading to a massive landslide. "Very, very heavy rains have been experienced in the area from May 30 onwards. The rains were so heavy that a huge waterfall had been created due to the landslide on the other side of the mountain. This never existed before. We carried out certain precautionary evacuations. However, nothing was anticipated on this side of the mountain, where 50-70 personnel were residing. Unfortunately, nature got the better of our nine personnel," he said. "In the last three days, we have mobilised all our resources and have been able to recover three of the remains. We are constantly searching for the six personnel who remain missing," the army personnel added. The missing include Lieutenant Colonel Pritpal Singh Sandhu, Subedar Dharamveer, Naik Sunilal Muchahary, Sepoy Sainudheen PK, Squadron Leader Aarti Sandhu (Retd), wife of Lieutenant Colonel Sandhu, and their daughter Amayra Sandhu. The army has deployed specialised teams and engineering equipment. However, the ongoing efforts have been significantly hampered by extremely bad weather, unstable ground, and challenging high-altitude terrain. Earlier in the day, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out urgent rescue and relief operations in the remote region of Chaten and evacuated 33 stranded people, including two US nationals, from the remote and rain-battered Chaten region of North Sikkim. In a statement, the Indian Air Force said, "In response to the devastating landslides in Sikkim, Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopters rapidly launched Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Ops -- dropping relief supplies, inserting NDRF teams, and evacuating 33 stranded individuals, including two US nationals, from the remote Chaten region." However, a prior operation to evacuate 113 stranded tourists from Lachen during the early hours had to be called off due to bad weather. An Mi-17 helicopter carrying nine National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel took off from Pakyong Airport around 6 am, but was forced to return mid-air because of poor visibility near Mangan and Chatten. (ANI)
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