Sikkim Floods: CM Tamang Inspects Affected Areas, Death Toll Rises To 30, Search Continues For Missing

He interacted with the flood-affected families of Naga, Rel and Toong wards and enquired about their conditions.

Tamang also visited a relief camp, where around 200 people are staying, and assured them of all possible help from the state government for their rehabilitation.

Speaking to reporters, the chief minister said the restoration of road connectivity was the top priority of the state government as it will speed up relief work and evacuation of the stranded people.

The toll in the flash flood in Sikkim rose to 30 as four more bodies were found on Saturday, while 62 people who were reported missing for the past three days were found alive, a government agency said here.

The number of missing people thus came down to 81, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) said in its latest bulletin on Saturday evening.

An inter-ministerial central team will visit the flood-hit state from Sunday to assess the damage due to the natural calamity, Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra said here.?

The flash flood triggered by a cloudburst in the early hours of Wednesday affected 41,870 people in four districts of the Himalayan state, with Mangan bearing the brunt of the calamity as a population of around 30,300 were hit by the disaster, it said.

The other three affected districts are Gangtok, Pakyang and Namchi.

Of the 30 deaths - four were in Mangan, six in Gangtok district, 19 in Pakyong and one in Namchi.

The report said that the 19 deceased people in Pakyong included nine army men. Twenty-three soldiers had gone missing on October 3 and one of them was rescued earlier.

So far, 2,563 people have been rescued from different areas and 6,875 people have taken shelter in 30 relief camps set up across the state, most of which have been cut off from the rest of the country.

The deluge also damaged more than 1,320 houses and washed away 13 bridges in the four districts of the picturesque Himalayan state, said the report.

More than 3,000 tourists stranded in Lachen and Lachung in Mangan district of Sikkim after the flash flood hit the area, are safe, officials said on Saturday.

?The Indian Air Force made multiple attempts to carry out rescue and relief operations by Mi-17 helicopters but was unable to fly from Bagdogra as well as Chaten due to inclement weather.