62 missing in Sikkim floods found alive

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 7

The toll in the flashfloods in Sikkim rose to 30 as four more bodies were found on Saturday, while 62 people who were reported missing for the past three days were found alive, a government agency said here. The number of missing people came down to 81, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority said on Saturday.

MoS (Home) visits state, promises all help

• In Gangtok, Union MoS (Home Affairs) AK Mishra on Saturday chaired a meeting with the Chief Secretary, head of departments and senior officers of Army, ITBP, BRO and NHPC. He promised all possible help from the Centre
• A central team, comprising senior officers of five ministries --- Agriculture, Road Transport & Highways, Jal Shakti, Energy and Finance — will take stock of the ground situation in the state from Sunday

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the mortal remains of eight Army personnel, who were part of a group of soldiers that went missing following the flashfloods, had been found.

He tweeted that he was pained by the loss of precious lives, including eight Army personnel in the flashfloods. Out of the 23 missing soldiers, one was rescued while mortal remains of eight brave soldiers were recovered. Their sacrifice, while being deployed in forward areas in the service of the nation, will not be forgotten. Search operations to rescue remaining 14 soldiers and missing civilians are underway, the minister said.

In Gangtok, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra chaired a meeting with the Chief Secretary and head of departments concerned of the State Government and senior officers of the Army, ITBP, Border Roads Organisation and National Hydro Power Corporation.

Mishra said the Government of India was closely monitoring the situation in Sikkim and all the necessary support and assistance for the state is underway. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah are in constant touch with the Chief Minster with regard to the extent of damage and rescue and relief work.

The Government of India has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee comprising of senior officers of five Ministries — Agriculture, Road Transport & Highways, Jal Shakti, Energy and Finance. The committee will visit the state from Sunday onwards to take stock of the ground situation, assess the damages and provide assistance wherever necessary.

The Union Minister of State asked the state government to prepare a short term and long-term plan to effectively accomplish the task of re-building the damaged and lost infrastructure in the shortest possible time.

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