Gangtok: A cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim on Wednesday has led to a flash floodin the Teesta River basin, resulting in the tragic loss of at least 14 lives. Among the affected; 80 individuals including 22 army personnel are missing. The deceased, all identified as civilians include three individuals whose bodies have been discovered in Bengal.
Nearly 65% of the Sikkim’s Lhonak Lake- around 105 hectares has been drained after a cloudburst forced the water body to overflow and trigger flash floods in the Teesta River. Satellite images shared by India’s space agency ISRO show dramatic changes in the volume of water in the lake.
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) released a press note that was also shared on Twitter to confirm the primary reason of flash floods appears the likely combination of excess rainfall and a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) event.
The flood commenced at 1:30 AM on Wednesday an was exacerbated by the release of water from the Chungthang dam. According to the report by the Sikkim’s Chief Secreatary VB Pathak, over 3000 tourists from various parts of the country are stranded in different areas of the state. He further confirmed that the road infrastructure has suffered extensive damage due to flooding as 14 bridges in the state have collapsed out of which nine were built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department has also issued heavy to very heavy rainfall in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur.