Death toll rises to 40 in India’s Sikkim flooding after lake overflow

The death toll in India’s Sikkim state has risen to 40 after heavy rainfall in the northeastern state caused a glacial lake to overflow and flood surrounding areas with ice-cold water.

In one of the worst disasters in the region in 50 years, the floods washed away houses and bridges, and forced thousands of people to leave their homes on Wednesday.

Damage to key infrastructure and continuous rainfall has cut off the capital city, Gangtok, and made rescue operations more difficult.

Fifteen bridges in the state have been washed away, including all bridges downstream of an NHPC hydropower station Teesta-V, according to the Indian government.

“We are evacuating [people] through helicopters provided by the army and the air force,” Vinay Bhushan Pathak, Sikkim state chief secretary, said on Friday.

About 2,400 people have been rescued since Wednesday and 26 injured individuals were taken to hospitals.

Rescue workers are still trying to locate almost 100 people, including 23 army personnel.

Officials in the neighbouring downstream state of West Bengal told Reuters that emergency teams recovered another 22 bodies that had been washed away.

A statement from West Bengal cited by the Press Trust of India also said that the bodies of four army soldiers had been found. However, it was not immediately clear whether they were among the 23 missing soldiers.

One soldier who had been reported missing on Wednesday was later rescued by authorities, the army said in a statement.

Current situation of tourists and residents

More than 22,000 people have been affected by the flood, prompting state authorities to set up 26 relief camps, according to the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority. About 7,600 people were in relief camps, Tseten Bhutia, a state official, told Reuters.

The disaster came ahead of a popular festive and tourism season in the state, leaving nearly 3,000 tourists and 700 taxi drivers stranded, added Pathak. The army said they will use helicopters to try to evacuate 1,500 tourists when the weather improves.

In a press conference on Thursday, Pathak said that the tourists were safe in Lachen and Lachung, while the army is also providing them with internet communication so they can advise friends and family that they are safe.

He also added that there is no shortage of essential commodities but unsuitable weather conditions are hindering the National Crisis Committee from starting rescue operations.

The weather department said Sikkim received 101mm (four inches) of rain in the first five days of October, more than double normal levels, unleashing floods worse than one in October 1968 in which an estimated 1,000 people were killed.

“We thought the water level wouldn’t rise as it was very low, but as the water was released from the dam, the levels started to rise slowly and after the dam burst our houses were washed away,” said Keval Tamong, a Sikkim resident.

Intense rainfall had caused the high-altitude Lhonak lake to burst and make a Sikkim dam collapse after rushing downstream on Wednesday.

The south Lhonak lake has also been rising and putting pressure on the dam in recent years as a warming climate melts source glaciers.

Areas affected by the flooding include Dikchu and Rangpo in the Teesta basin. Schools in four districts have also been ordered shut till Sunday, according to the state’s education department.

The weather department said Sikkim received 101mm (four inches) of rain in the first five days of October, more than double normal levels, unleashing floods worse than one in October 1968 in which an estimated 1,000 people were killed.