Hope of finding survivors among those missing since Wednesday's monster flash flood in North Sikkim fast faded as nine more bodies washed ashore downstream of the Teesta on Sunday, taking the casualty count to 82.
Officials said 49 of the confirmed victims of the flood that cut a swathe through the Teesta basin were found in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts of Bengal and a few in Bangladesh. Nine of the bodies retrieved so far are of Army personnel, 23 of whom went missing from a temporary camp at Burdang on the night of the catastrophe triggered by a glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF, in South Lhonak Lake. Only one among the missing soldiers has been found alive so far. Jalpaiguri SP Khandabahale Umesh Ganpat said 39 bodies had been found in the district, 10 of which had been identified and handed over to the authorities. Six of these were of soldiers, he told reporters.
Cooch Behar SP Dyutiman Bhattacharya said four bodies were retrieved from Bangladesh. Former footballer Bhaichung Bhutia, a native of Sikkim, launched a campaign for relief and rehabilitation of people displaced by the flash flood. The drive, "Play for Teesta", is in collaboration with an NGO.
Bhaichung appealed to sportspersons across the world to join the cause. "We also request the government of India to restore road connectivity through NH10 as it is the lifeline of the state," he said in Siliguri.
The list of missing people almost doubled to 142, based on freshly collated data from Namchi and Pakyong districts of Sikkim. Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang announced ex gratia of Rs 400,000 to the families of each of those who died in the flash flood. Families of those still missing, especially tourists, spent another agonising day waiting for news from Sikkim amid multiple abortive attempts by rescue helicopters to reach those believed to be stranded in Lachen, Lachung and Chungthang.