Crisis management committee under Cabinet Secretary reviews situation in Sikkim

New Delhi : The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, on Monday reviewed the situation in Sikkim. Reviewing relief and rescue measures of the central agencies and Sikkim government, he emphasised that the evacuation of people in shortest possible time should be the priority for them.

Gauba said that bailey bridges should be launched on priority to restore road connectivity for the people in places where bridges have been washed away. The Cabinet Secretary assured that the Centre shall provide all possible support and assistance to the state.

The Sikkim Chief Secretary joined the meeting through video conferencing, and informed that road connectivity has been established in most of the areas. He further informed that as a result of improvement in weather conditions, it has become possible to start evacuation and air lifting of stranded people. As many as 80 people have been evacuated since Monday morning, he said.

He also briefed the committee about the relief and rescue measures and said that 28 relief camps have been established and more than 6,800 people have taken shelter in them. Further, all essential supplies including food items, medicines and LPG are being supplied in affected areas.

The Indian Meteorological Department chief informed the committee that weather forecast is likely to remain favourable from October 11 to 13. The NDRF Director General briefed the committee that six teams have been deployed in the state for rescue and relief operations. In addition to this, three reserve teams of NDRF are available on standby at West Bengal's Siliguri, it was informed.

Adequate number of teams and assets of Army and Air Force have been deployed to assist the state in rescue and restoration efforts. Gauba said that that the situation is being monitored 24x7 by the Central government at highest level. He informed the committee that Inter Ministerial Coordination Team (IMCT) has reached Sikkim to take stock of the situation. Necessary additional Central assistance is being released to the state government.

The meeting was attended by the Union Home Secretary, and the Secretaries, Road Transport and Highways, and Department of Military Affairs, Member Secretary NDMA, the CISC IDS, the DG NDRF, the DGMO, the DG IMD, the DDG BRO and other senior officers from the Home Ministry and Defence Ministry.