Landslides and Floods in Sikkim and Nepal: Six Dead, Thousands Stranded

Sikkim, India- At least six people have been killed this week and around 2,000 tourists stranded in India’s Himalayan state of Sikkim due to landslides and floods triggered by incessant rainfall, officials reported on Friday.

The relentless rains have caused significant disruptions, with Mangan district in north Sikkim being one of the hardest-hit areas. Mangan lies approximately 100 km north of the state capital, Gangtok. “It’s been raining continuously for 36 hours. The road to north Sikkim has been damaged in multiple locations, snapping connection to the district,” said Hem Kumar Chettri, the district magistrate of Mangan.

Chettri assured that the stranded tourists, including 11 foreign nationals, are safe, but evacuation efforts have been hampered due to extensive road damage. Personnel and machinery have been deployed to repair the road, but Chettri noted that the damage was “extensive” and repairs will take some time. About 50 houses have been partly or fully damaged by the rains, and affected residents have been taken to a relief camp.

In Nepal’s Taplejung district, which borders Sikkim, another four people have been killed after a landslide, triggered by heavy rains, swept away the house in which they were sleeping, officials there reported.

The small Buddhist state of Sikkim, with a population of 650,000, is wedged between Bhutan, China, and Nepal. Despite being a popular tourist destination, it is prone to natural disasters caused by extreme weather events in the Himalayas. Last year, at least 179 people died in Sikkim when a Himalayan glacial lake outburst triggered floods.

While eastern parts of Nepal have been lashed by heavy rains, the country’s western areas are facing one of the hottest seasons on record, weather officials said, highlighting the stark contrasts in weather conditions affecting the region.