22.9.11

Sikkim quake : Everything's topsy-turvy





At least five villages have been obliterated and many more lie buried under mountains of debris, there are flooded hydel plan tunnels that no one has been able to access and ducts that have collapsed deep inside the mountains. The official body count is 69 — 11 more bodies were pulled out from under the rubble in various parts of north Sikkim on Wednesday. But the toll may climb, fear Army officers. Aerial reconnaissance photographs show that five villages in Dzonghu — Lingzya, Sakyong, Tentong, Day and Tholong — have simply vanished, sources said. Other areas like Lachung, Lachen and Thangu remained cut off. Counting deaths in Bhutan, Bihar, Nepal, Bengal and Jharkhand, the toll now stands at about 140. There is no news of the 40 workers feared killed in a flooded tunnel of the Teesta Urja hydel project that ran between Theng village and Mangan. An Army platoon tried desperately to enter the tunnel but couldn’t make much progress. It took them hours of arduous and risky climb over gigantic landslides to reach the mouth of the tunnel on Wednesday but their hopes were dashed as the duct was flooded. It won’t be until Thursday that the landslides are cleared and the Army can get heavy equipment to try and move into the tunnel, officials said. According to NDRF sources, seven bodies were located in Dzonghu but they couldn’t be recovered. Nishit Upadhyay, commanding officer, said many more could be lying under the debris. North Sikkim district collector S K Pradhan said the death toll was “uncertain” because most parts of the district were still cut off. Army and NDRF personnel, each carrying 30-40kg of ration and medicines, have started climbing to the inaccessible regions, especially in Dzonghu. There is no other way. It will take the troops three to four days to reach these areas where scores are feared trapped. The extent of devastation is mind-numbing. The bodies are mangled and crushed. Some are headless. Landslides are still a deadly threat and flash floods were reported from Lachen and Lachung, adding to the problems rescuers, who managed to trek to a few affected areas and airdropped ration in some villages. But a vast swathe of north Sikkim remained cut off. The administration and the Army sent 14 helicopters to the affected areas. The choppers landed at Chumthang and Upper Dzonghu but rescuers were stopped by landslides and blocked roads. A 6-km-stretch of road from Mangan was cleared.

No comments: