The Governor of Sikkim, B.P. Singh takes aerial survey of the earthquake affected North Sikkim

Gangtok, September 28:Army made 12 helicopter sorties today to the inaccessible parts of Chungthang, Lachen and Lachung in Sikkim as weather improved aiding resumption of relief work in quake-ravaged areas of North district.

No sorties could be made yesterday due to inclement weather, but today the army choppers airdropped 9,408 kg of relief to the region as the rains stopped, Army spokesman Col Ravi Patil said.

Official sources said there was no rise in the quake toll figure of 93 in the past two days.

In North district, Army authorities evacuated 100 stranded people from various interior places to Mangan and altogether 106 people from Lachung, Lachen and Chungthang to Gangtok, Patil said.

At least 400 persons have been evacuated by air and 7,900 people by road from the quake-hit areas in North district, army sources said.

A team of six scientists, police and doctors were taken to Chungthang while equipment like generators and water purification tools were also airlifted to the affected areas.

 

The Governor of Sikkim, B.P. Singh visited North Sikkim on an army chopper on Tuesday for an aerial survey of the earthquake affected areas of Chungthang, Lachen and Lachung.

In Mangan, the headquarters of North district, Governor B P Singh visited the 140-year-old Ringhim Monastery which had suffered extensive damage during the earthquake, after reaching the spot by helicopter.
The Governor assured the monks of all assistance in rebuilding the structure and advised the monastery management to immediately fence the premises for the necessary security.

Singh also visited the district hospital and met those who received injuries during the quake.

The Governor also visited the relief camp run by the state administration which provides food and shelter to the affected.

He later told reporters that each control room in the district headquarters is being monitored by a minister to secure better co-ordination.Governor expressed his appreciation for the hard work put in by all the organizations especially the Army, ITBP, NDRF and the State Administration.

Meanwhile, a central team led by Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Shambhu Singh, reached Gangtok today from New Delhi to assess the earthquake damage, official sources said.

The team, which is scheduled to visit all four districts of the state, also include officials from all ministries concerned.

Sources said 2,542 houses were destroyed and and 6,765 houses damaged in the quake in West district where 181 families were now given shelter in 20 relief camps spread across four blocks.

As per a preliminary report prepared by the North district administration, the tremor destroyed 432 buildings and 643 kutcha houses and damaged 2,965 buildings and 5,398 kutcha houses.

Women IAF pilots shine in Sikkim relief and rescue operations

Bagdogra, Sep 24 (IANS) Women pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) have been in the thick of action the past week, carrying out relief and rescue operations in earthquake-hit Sikkim from this air base in north Bengal.

Three of the 30-odd pilots from the 142 Helicopter Unit are putting in long hours to conduct sorties from ‘sunrise to sunset’ to reach supplies and carry out evacuation from the remotest corners of north Sikkm, the epicentre of Sunday’s 6.8-magnitude earthquake.

The air base is the centre of all IAF relief operations for the neighbouring state.

Flying the Cheetah and Chetak choppers of the IAF, the women pilots have matched their skills with their men colleagues and have ‘captained’ their respective choppers during the relief operations in some of the most inhospitable terrains after the tremor. Many inhabited areas are still cut off from the rest of the country due to landslides, and have been kept on life-support through air bridges.

Flight-Lieutenant Arunima Vidhate, a 26-year-old pilot who has clocked in over 350 hours of flying the Cheetahs and Chetaks, said her first sortie middle of last week was for carrying out a recce of the quake-hit areas to provide valuable inputs to the rescuers to reach the remote corners.

She also guided relief workers to reach the landslide spots to clear the roads for rescuers to move in.

Vidhate, who has been in the air force for four years now, is a captain of her flying machine.

So is 25-year-old Poornima Ranade, who too has clocked in 250 hours on the Cheetahs and Chetaks.

‘We carry out sorties from sunrise to sunset. I have done some sorties to provide food supplies to tiny villages in remote corners of north Sikkim,’ says Ranade.

‘The joy you see in the eyes of the people and relief on their face when we reach them with supplies and medicines, it brings joy to me to. They are happy to see us, after remaining cut off and hopeless for hours,’ chips in Vidhate.

‘In fact, just hearing the sound of our rotors, the people on the ground gain in faith that there are people to take care of them in their worst times,’ she adds.

Ask her if the stranded people are surprised to see women piloting choppers coming to their rescue, Vidhate quickly responds: ‘Not anymore. People are now used to seeing women pilot airplanes and choppers. In fact, I have seniors who have done this for a decade now.’

VIDEO: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visit Quake hit Sikkim

Sikkim earthquake aerial survey photos by IAF helicopter