All troops in Sikkim, barring 22 missing in flash flood, are safe: Defence Ministry assures families

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, October 5

The Ministry of Defence on Thursday assured families of soldiers, saying that all troops in Sikkim and North Bengal are safe except the 22 who are missing since Wednesday following a flood in the Teesta river. 

The MoD said mobile telephone services have snapped in the flood-hit area, hence, Indian Army personnel posted in Sikkim and North Bengal are unable to contact their family members.

The family members of the 22 missing troops have been contacted and informed about the situation. 

The MoD issued a statement on Thursday as panicked family members tried contacting their kin after reports of flood yesterday. With mobiles phones being unreachable it compounded the panic.

Sikkim and north Bengal are under the 33 Corps of the Army. Some 50,000 troops are stationed under various units of the Corps. Sikkim shares a 220 boundary with China.

In the summer of 2017 the armies of two sides were locked in a 73 day standoff at Doklam located in South-east Sikkim that borders the Chumbi valley in Tibet.

Besides, the search and rescue operation by Indian Army for the 22 missing soldiers, the Army is extending medical aid and telephone connectivity to civilians and tourists stranded in the areas of Chungthang, Lachung and Lachen in North Sikkim. 

Efforts are on to dig out the vehicles submerged under the slush at Burdang near Singtam on the Siliguri-Gangtok highway. Search for the missing persons is now focusing in the areas downstream of Teesta river.