GANGTOK: Armed troops continued to evacuate visitors from Lachen and Lachung in North Sikkim on Tuesday as the weather remained clear for a second day, according to officials. Choppers transported about 95 trapped individuals from Lachung and Lachen. The first group from Lachung consisted of two Lachung village residents and 17 tourists. In the morning, the choppers made two sorties to the region. People from Lachung were transported to Pakyong Airport, which is close to Gangtok. Three helicopter sorties were used to remove the first group of 76 stranded individuals from Lachen, including two children.They were taken to the Ringhim Helipad in Mangan. Hem Kumar Chettri, the District Magistrate of Mangan, reported that the IAF has dispatched three helicopters, with two of them heading to Lachen and one to Lachung. According to Chettri, the district administration’s top concern at the moment is the evacuation of visitors and sick people. According to officials, more airlifts of stranded tourists from Lachung and Lachen towns in the worst-affected Mangan area will be conducted by the choppers. To assist the tourists in getting to Siliguri and Gangtok, they said that the state government had set up SNT buses. After the cloudburst in Lhonak lake created flash floods in the Teesta river, which devastated Chungthang valley and flooded the river basin area in four districts downstream on October 4, around 3,000 visitors from various parts of the nation became stuck in North Sikkim cities. Lachen and Lachung were evacuated of more than 360 tourists on Monday. The DM stated that as of right now, more than 700 individuals had been safely transported from flood-affected areas, including tourists, locals, and labourers who were trapped in places like Chungthang where a Bailey Bridge was created for emergency evacuation. The DM added that teams for rescue and recovery have already arrived and are operating on the ground in the impacted areas.According to him, BSNL phone lines in Lachung have been repaired, and by this evening, phone connectivity will also be restored in Lachen and Chungthang. He claimed that by this evening, power would also be restored to Chungthang, Lachen, and Lachung. In North Sikkim, the floods severely destroyed the road system and the communications network, leaving some 3,000 tourists trapped for five days.
