Residents pick up pieces after Sikkim floods leave behind trail of destruction

Around 2am on Wednesday, Nimesh Chetri and his wife were woken up as sudden announcements over loudspeakers warned people of gushing flood waters in Ghel Khola in West Bengal’s Kalimpong district. The couple hurriedly woke up their three children and ran to a higher ground. Within minutes, they heard torrents of the Teesta River waters coursing downstream into their village. The family lost three pigs as their house was buried, forcing the Chetris to move to a relative’s house.

Only the tin roof of the house on the banks of the Teesta near the National Highway-10 (NH-10) was visible. The rest was buried under silt and debris.

A glacial lake overflowed upstream in Sikkim following torrential rains and triggered flash floods down the Teesta, which flows through West Bengal before entering Bangladesh. The floods washed away homes and highways and smashed through a dam that powers the region.

Three kilometres upstream from Ghel Khola, the floods left behind a similar trail of destruction in Teesta Bazar in the Kalimpong district. Kumkum Rai, a resident, said their shop and car were washed away. “At least 60 houses and shops in Teesta Bazar have been totally devastated. Several cars were swept away,” said Rai as she helped her husband Sanjay Rai clean the debris.

The distance between Ghel Khola and Teesta Bazar is just three kilometers but it takes much longer than usual to cover the distance via treacherous hilly terrain, negotiating dense outgrowth and slippery muddy paths. The lifeline NH-10, which connects the region with the rest of the country, has been severely damaged at multiple places.

Sunil Rai, another resident, said they came all the way from Kalimpong town with relief materials, including rice, dal, cooking oil, clothes, and blankets. “But as the NH-10 has been damaged and some sections caving in, we had to trek through a forest for around 5 km.”

The flash floods left at least 19 persons dead while nearly 100 were still missing. An engineer overseeing the restoration work near Teesta Bazar said the damage is severe and it would take more than a month or maybe two months to restore the highway completely. “Some portions have been totally washed away.”

In Sikkim, which bore the brunt of the flash floods, relief, and rescue operations were being carried out. A Mi-17 chopper pressed for the rescue work could not take off while two others flew from Bagdogra but had to return due to low clouds in the hills. A Chetak helicopter also had to return.

Two companies of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel were also waiting in Bagdogra to be flown to Sikkim.

“At least 13 persons, all employees of the Teesta hydro-power project, are feared trapped in a tunnel in Chunthang. The NDRF team was supposed to look for survivors. But it could not arrive. We are sending a team of state police there. The area is totally inaccessible and the police team would have to trek for five hours to reach there,” said a police official involved in the rescue work.

Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang visited the flood-hit regions of Rangpo and Singtam to take stock of the situation. Separate teams have been set up in every district to monitor and coordinate the rescue and relief operations.

Over 2400 people have been evacuated while a few thousand have taken shelter in relief camps. On Thursday, two bodies were recovered from the Teesta in the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. Another body was recovered in Bangladesh. “As Teesta flows through West Bengal before entering Bangladesh, we are in touch with our counterparts. The bodies may be spotted further downstream in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts,” said an official of the Sikkim home department.

Alternative routes have been opened up for vehicles to reach Sikkim as the NH-10 remains shut. “Small and light vehicles from Siliguri may reach Gangtok via Gorubathan, Lava, Munsong, and Rangpo, while those heading towards southwest districts of Sikkim may move via Darjeeling, Singla, and Jorethang,” said a police officer.