Quake toll in Sikkim mounts to 68
September 21st, 2011 - 8:34 pm ICT by IANS
Gangtok/New Delhi, Sept 21 (IANS) The deaths in the killer earthquake in Sikkim have mounted to 68, with more than 300 injured, while rescue workers Wednesday battled against odds, fighting inclement weather to clear roads struck by fresh landslides.
“The tragedy has been enormous with 68 people killed and more than 300 injured. The loss has been extensive with 2,000 houses collapsed and more than 100,000 houses damaged,” Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling told journalists.
Fresh landslides blocked National Highway 31-A, the lifeline linking capital Gangtok with the rest of India, following heavy rains Wednesday.
“Army soldiers are working overtime to clear the road with mudslides blocking the highway since afternoon. There are hundreds of vehicles stranded on either side of the road and the situation is getting chaotic by the hour,” said Albert Bando, a photo journalist, stuck in the middle of the highway for close to four hours.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Wednesday visited Gangtok and met the injured at a hospital, besides assuring Chief Minister Chamling of New Delhi’s help in fighting the devastation.
Gandhi was in Gangtok for about half an hour. He went to the Sikkim Manipal Hospital for about 10 minutes to meet the victims.
He did not interact with the media and flew straight to Meghalaya, where he was scheduled to visit.
Home minister P.C. Chidambaram is scheduled to arrive in Gangtok Thursday to assess the damage caused by Sunday’s 6.8-magnitude tremor.
“The biggest challenge now is to reconstruct the damaged houses and reach out to the affected people. Bad weather and the remoteness of the area have been hampering the relief and rescue operations,” the chief minister said.
About 400 foreigners are reported to be stranded in North Sikkim, a home ministry statement issued in New Delhi said.
The state government has opened relief camps in each district, while 2,700 and 550 people have been provided shelter respectively in army camps and the ITBP camp at Pegong, the statement said.
A total of 5,500 Indian Army personnel have been deployed in the rescue and relief operations. Sixty villages have been scoured by the army troops in their search and rescue operations. Two teams of 30 soldiers each are located in Mangan and Chungthan, the statement said.
Thirty sorties have been conducted by helicopters provided by the defence ministry for airdropping and reconnaissance, the statement added.
The centre has constituted an inter-ministerial team to visit the affected places in Sikkim and give its recommendations for assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund, the statement said.
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Tags: army soldiers, bad weather, chidambaram, chief minister, general secretary, heavy rains, highway 31, home minister, home ministry, inclement weather, killer earthquake, landslides, ministry statement, mudslides, photo journalist, quake toll, rahul gandhi, relief camps, rescue operations, sikkim manipal