While condoling the lack of lives within the Sikkim cloudburst and subsequent flash floods, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday stated that such tragedies, additionally together with the current rain-related calamities in Himachal Pradesh, needs to be declared as nationwide disasters by the Centre.
In a prolonged submit on X, Kharge stated: :The state of affairs in Sikkim is precarious as a number of individuals have misplaced their lives and plenty of together with our courageous Army personnel are lacking on account of cloudburst and flash floods.
Our ideas are with the individuals of Sikkim who’re battling these distressing occasions.”
The Congress president went on to say that the Centre “must do everything possible to rescue people in safer locations and find the missing persons, whose count is reportedly steadily increasing”.
“A lot of damage has been done to the infrastructure, and the Union and the state governments must work together in the medium and long term to rebuild this beautiful state.”
He additionally stated that the Congress and staff will present assist in “all possible ways in this humanitarian crisis”.
Drawing a similarity, Kharge stated that the Centre “must recalibrate its strategy in dealing with ecologically fragile Himalayan states and must declare such tragedies, like Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh, as national disasters so that these states get adequate funds to rebuild themselves in a more sustainable manner”.
On Wednesday, the Defence PRO in Guwahati stated that one soldier has been rescued up to now whereas search and rescue operation by the Army continued for the remaining 22 troopers who went lacking after the sudden cloudburst over the Lhonak Lake in north Sikkim.
Release of water from the Chungthang dam led to additional sudden improve in water stage upto 15-20 ft excessive downstream, the Army spokesman stated.
“Sudden increase in water level has led to Army vehicles parked at Bardang near Singtam getting affected, ” he stated.
The Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority has stated that in Pakyong district, 59 individuals together with 23 Army personnel have been reported lacking, whereas at the least 5 individuals had been confirmed useless.
The National Disaster Response Force has deployed three groups within the affected areas and rescued many individuals.