Request to the central government regarding Sikkim flood & aftermath

Dear Editor,

We all are well aware of the present situation of our state Sikkim due to sudden "Cloudburst" at Tista river and followed by collapse of the Sikkim Urja Stage III dam at Chungthang. Many people lost their lives and many more are still yet to identify! Thousands of houses collapsed or washed away due to unprecedented water hike in the Teesta river and thereby affecting the surrounding areas of the localities!

The main lifeline of Sikkim NH10 as well as other state highways are in a terrible condition with at least five to six places where either 100 meters/200 meters of highway has been completely washed away!

Although our Government has tried their best to resume the daily services of small vehicles and heavy vehicles via Kalimpong-Lava-Gorubathan route to Siliguri but I would like to put few points to our Central Government which they can easily do on war footing basis to save our State.

1. From my experiences I have seen in early 1990's during rainy season when few portions of our NH used to suffer like the present situation, within couple of days GREF used to pave the way using "Bailey Bridge" which is a temporary arrangement till the damaged area of the the National Highway 10 is completely repaired! We have seen it in Sevoke just before "Coronation Bridge" also at Riang and near 32 no Market before reaching Ranipool.

If Police personals are deployed duty at these positions after installing the Bailey Bridge, I believe most of the crisis which common people are facing can be addressed.

If the surface communication is good, however bad the weather conditions are, you don't need to depend on helicopters for essential commodities and we may be in excess of three important needs of the hour:

a) Availability of essential commodities, medicines and fuel

b) Injured persons can be easily taken to referred to other hospitals in Siliguri and beyond

c) NDRF team can also reach the remote areas for rescue operations on time

I, therefore kindly request our Central Government especially Ministry of Road & Transport; and Home Department to expedite the process at the earliest please for the sake of the affected people of Sikkim.

Your’s etc,

Dr. Bhaskar Chakraborty

NBBGC, Tadong