With the task at hand largely unknown, the rescue team will comprise land rescuers and scuba divers. They will be armed with hammers, water guns, rock cutters, satellite phones, generator sets and lifesaving medical equipment.
Power lines snapped, cell towers wrecked, bridges destroyed and roads washed away-Wednesday's flash floods have cut Chungthang town off from the rest of Sikkim. The connectivity blackout has meant that there is no information on the people trapped. All that's known so far is that they work with a state government firm that manages the Teesta -III dam. The tunnels are all within the Teesta-III dam compound, which was destroyed during Thursday's flash floods.
The Sikkim government on Wednesday acted on information from local authorities and informed the Centre, which ordered that an NDRF team be sent to the tunnels.
For now, the team is hopeful.
"Our teams are ready and we hope they are all alive. By the time we reach, it will be more than 48 hours since the incident, But we are positive that they are alive," said an NDRF official aware of the operation.
This story is from the October 06, 2023 edition of Hindustan Times.
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This story is from the October 06, 2023 edition of Hindustan Times.
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