Incessant rains in Sikkim, tourists stranded

The rains are set to continue and the met department has issued a red alert in Sikkim

Incessant rains and resultant landslides in the Himalayan State of Sikkim left 200 tourists stranded and also affected piped water supply to the capital town of Gangtok, officials said on Wednesday.

The heavy rains have damaged NH-10 that connects the rest of the country via Siliguri to Gangtok at 19 and 20 mile between Singtam in East district and Rangpo in Pakyong district blocking a lane of the main highway that links Sikkim to West Bengal, officials said.

The rains are set to continue and the met department has issued a red alert in the State. It warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall due to an upper air trough stretching from east Uttar Pradesh to Arunachal Pradesh across Bihar, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Assam.

There were reports of heavy rains in neighbouring north Bengal and Bhutan too.

Officials in Gangtok said the water supply in Greater Gangtok has been hit by a major landslide at Ratey chu which damaged the pipe lines, officials said.

Public Health Engineering department officials said work is on to restore the water supply but it might take another two days to complete it. An advisory has been issued by the authorities to the people of Greater Gangtok to use water judiciously till the restoration is completed.

Work is on in the area on a priority basis to clear the landslips. But the heavy rains have made the condition of the stretch on the highway unpredictable as there may be more landslips anytime. Authorities have asked commuters to use alternative routes via Pakyong and central Pendam to reach the West Bengal border.