Sikkim shocked at skimpy aid from New Delhi

Dr Pema Lachungpa and his men are yet to be rescued from Chungthang five days after a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) virtually destroyed the hyrdroelectric plant set up at a cost of Rs 1,400 cr on 4 October.

His sister, says Karma Paljor, editor-in-chief of the news portal East Mojo, has been making frantic appeals for information but she is yet to receive any news. The last they heard, Dr Lachungpa was on the walkie-talkie asking the control room to release water from the dam to reduce the impact of the flood.

Dr Lachungpa, the medical officer for Teesta Urja Pvt Ltd, had rushed out at night to rescue people. He had done so in 2011 as well when the state was hit by a massive earthquake. This time, says Paljor in a video appeal, the good doctor needs to be rescued himself.

Paljor also recalled that the relief and rehabilitation efforts in 2011 were faster and more robust.

Why has it taken the NDRF so long to reach the disaster site this time, asks Paljor. A 22-member NDRF team finally reached Gangtok on the morning of Sunday, 8 October, and then left for Mangan with rescue equipment.

You can watch the poignant video message here:

Union minister of state (home) Ajay Mishra Teni did finally visit Sikkim on Saturday to take stock of the situation. The union home ministry has finally released ‘in advance’ Rs 48 crore, the union government’s share of disaster relief for the year 2023–24.

Is this enough, however? That is the question being asked by people in the hills.

Paljor acknowledges that the prime minister had posted a message of sympathy promptly on 4 October. Home minister Amit Shah has been posting congratulatory messages for the Indian athletes who won medals at the Asian Games, but had not posted anything on the disaster in Sikkim. The home minister’s posts, Paljor points out, have been mostly on the Asian Games or on the elections.

Meanwhile, defence minister Rajnath Singh did finally post his condolences on Saturday, five days after the disaster, for the death of eight of the 23 missing army jawans whose dead bodies had been recovered.

Residents of Chungthang told East Mojo on Saturday that no one had made any attempt to rescue or airlift them. The GLOF, they said, had completely ravaged the town. They also said two prominent villages beyond Chungthang—Lachen and Lachung—remained completely cut off till Saturday (when the East Mojo report was filed). Other reports corroborated thousands were stranded there.

Efforts, they said, were underway to construct a log bridge to connect to the other side, where most residents, army personnel and even tourists are stranded currently.

The situation in Sikkim remains grim, with thousands of tourists stranded and the death toll increasing by the day. While there is no official word so far on the casualty figures or even damage to the dam and the power plant, several companies have been reporting that their employees are either missing or stranded.

Kundan Green Energy, for example, has informed the administration that 150 of its personnel are stranded at Latong, North Sikkim, and cut off from all communication.

The Rabum Chu hydroelectric project, established in 2020, is one of the four operational projects by Kundan Green Energy in Sikkim. The flood, triggered by a GLOF from Lhonak lake, has impacted the 20-megawatt project itself, while landslides, waterlogging and infrastructural collapse have made the area inaccessible.

Why attempts have not been made to airlift these personnel in the last 48 hours, despite the weather having improved, is still not known.