Gangtok: Three days after a devastating earthquake measuring a forceful 6.8 on the Richter scale struck large parts of north east India, rescue and relief teams are still trying to reach thousands of people trapped in remote areas.
Many villages in quake-hit Sikkim are still out of reach and thousands are said to be waiting for help. Rescue operations remain the biggest challenge as rain and landslides are severely hampering the efforts and bad weather is not allowing helicopters to land.
Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling has said it will take at least a month to build damaged roads again. "Many roads have been affected, and thousands of houses have been destroyed. In north Sikkim, contact has been broken with nine villages. Roads are completely closed," he said.
The earthquake death toll has crossed 100. Over 70 people have died in Sikkim alone. Casualties have also been reported from neighbouring Bihar and West Bengal. The quake that hit at around 6 pm on Sunday was centred on the Sikkim-Nepal border, 64 kilometres north-west of Gangtok. It also It also shook Nepal and Tibet.
Road links between Sikkim and the rest of the country, snapped since Sunday due to landslides, have been restored. But there are still stretches where mudslides have affected connectivity.
According to the home ministry, road connectivity to one of the worst-affected areas of Mangan in Sikkim has been restored while roads to some other badly-hit areas remain shut. Mangan is close to the quake epicentre located on the Indo-Nepal border. Around 22 bodies were found under the rubble at the Teesta hydel project here today, as rescuers scouted through devastated areas where "heavy casualties" were feared.
More than 6,000 Army and paramilitary troopers and police personnel are engaged in massive rescue and relief operations. Half of them have been deployed in worst-hit north Sikkim areas.
Authorities have opened at least 100 relief camps to provide food and medicines to those whose homes have been damaged in the quake. Around 2,000 people have taken shelter at these camps.
Many villages in quake-hit Sikkim are still out of reach and thousands are said to be waiting for help. Rescue operations remain the biggest challenge as rain and landslides are severely hampering the efforts and bad weather is not allowing helicopters to land.
Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling has said it will take at least a month to build damaged roads again. "Many roads have been affected, and thousands of houses have been destroyed. In north Sikkim, contact has been broken with nine villages. Roads are completely closed," he said.
The earthquake death toll has crossed 100. Over 70 people have died in Sikkim alone. Casualties have also been reported from neighbouring Bihar and West Bengal. The quake that hit at around 6 pm on Sunday was centred on the Sikkim-Nepal border, 64 kilometres north-west of Gangtok. It also It also shook Nepal and Tibet.
Road links between Sikkim and the rest of the country, snapped since Sunday due to landslides, have been restored. But there are still stretches where mudslides have affected connectivity.
According to the home ministry, road connectivity to one of the worst-affected areas of Mangan in Sikkim has been restored while roads to some other badly-hit areas remain shut. Mangan is close to the quake epicentre located on the Indo-Nepal border. Around 22 bodies were found under the rubble at the Teesta hydel project here today, as rescuers scouted through devastated areas where "heavy casualties" were feared.
More than 6,000 Army and paramilitary troopers and police personnel are engaged in massive rescue and relief operations. Half of them have been deployed in worst-hit north Sikkim areas.
Authorities have opened at least 100 relief camps to provide food and medicines to those whose homes have been damaged in the quake. Around 2,000 people have taken shelter at these camps.
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