By IANS,
New Delhi : More than 400 people, including 26 tourists, have been rescued in Sikkim after Sunday’s 6.8 magnitude earthquake, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said Monday. However, bad weather and landslides are hampering relief work.
ITBP Director General Ranjit Sinha said that 400 villagers and 26 tourists around the Pengong area, which is the worst hit, have been rescued and have been lodged in the headquarters of the 11th battalion of the ITBP.
“We are restricting ourselves to the Pengong area because of lack of connectivity and difficulty in moving around,” said Sinha. “Around 700 ITBP personnel have been pressed into action.”
Landslides have blocked several roads in the area, including National Highway 31-A, the only road link to the hilly northeastern state.
Sinha said the highway was expected to be cleared by Monday night.
“We are working tirelessly to clear the highway and it is expected to open by tonight,” he said.
Ten teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and a team of doctors were unable to reach quake-affected areas till Monday afternoon due to landslides.
“Although we have got all the essential equipments to carry out the rescue operations, but once the NDRF reaches (there), it would definitely be of great help,” said Sinha.
He clarified that there had been no casualties in the Pengong area and their headquarters had suffered “marginal damage”, with some walls developing cracks and two messes collapsing.