Evacuation of tourists from Lachen begins

GANGTOK,: After persistent effort from the Indian Army, BRO, in coordination with the District Administration, DDMA, and with the support of LachenDzumsa, Pipon Cho Bandhu Lachenpa and Khaisota Lachenpa, chairperson Medicinal Plant Board, SonamGyatso Lachenpa, chairperson Tourism & Civil Aviation department Sonam Norgay Lachungpa, Tourism officers and adventure cell staff, and with the coordinated effort of Lachen Youth Development Committee, Lachendrivers, TAAS and Lachen Hotel Association, and the people of Lachen, the tourists lodged in Lachen are being safely transported from Lachen through Dongkya La - Shiv Mandir - Zero Point - Yumthang - Lachung route.

The evacuation of tourists from Lachen began Wednesday morning in a coordinated manner in batches to ensure smooth passage along the challenging terrain.

Meanwhile, District Collector ManganAnant Jain, SP Mangan LB Chettri, SDM Chungthang ArunChettri, and SDPO Chungthang ChandanChhetri and present at the spot to oversee the evacuation process.

Through the challenging phase which has lasted for over two days, the strength, resilience and community spirit of the people of Lachen have once again come to the fore.

The prompt response from LachenDzumsa, District Administration, the Army, BRO and tourism stakeholders has won the appreciation of the tourists and the people closely monitoring the situation over the past few days, informs a press release from Mangan district administration.

An IPR release informs that minister, Social Welfare department, cum MLA LachenManganconstituency, Samdup Lepcha has been continuously monitoring the situation caused by disruption of connectivity along Lachen-Chungthang route and the subsequent efforts to safely evacuate the tourists lodged in Lachen.

Today, the Minister cum Area MLA visited Taram Chu and inspected the damage caused by the landslide causing complete disruption of traffic. He was joined by LachenPipon Cho Bandhu Lachenpa, Chairperson, Tourism & Civil Aviation department, Sonam Norgay Lachungpa, DC ManganAnant Jain, SP Mangan LB Chettri, and other officials.

The Minister took stock of the temporary foot bridge laid by the volunteers of Lachen and the officials of the Adventure Cell of Tourism & Civil Aviation department, to facilitate basic movement. He lauded the bravery and the volunteering spirit of the people of Lachen.

The Minister also interacted with the officers of BRO and discussed future course of action.

The Minister thanked the Indian Army, BRO, District Administration, Tourism stakeholders and the people of Lachen for the coordinated effort in ensuring the safe evacuation of tourists along Dongkya La from this morning.

Later, Minister Lepcha held a coordination meeting with the district administration and concerned authorities to discuss further evacuation plan.

It was decided that the remaining tourists would be evacuated from Lachen through the Lachen-Tarum Chu-Chungthang route by using the newly launched temporary foot bridge at Taram Chu.

The evacuation will commence early morning on 9th April under the supervision of District Collector Mangan, with active coordination from LachenDzumsa, all concerned stakeholders, Army, and BRO.

It was decided that the route via Dongkya La which was used today for evacuation will not be used for further evacuation as necessary transhipment measures have been made at Taram Chu. Further, adequate arrangements have been made to transport the tourists from Taram Chu to Gangtok.