Due to continuous heavy rains and landslides in Sikkim since last Friday, most of the connectivity of North Sikkim has been cut off from the rest of the state.
Movement in the area has come to a standstill due to the closure of most of the roads. Efforts are being made to evacuate the tourists stranded there safely. But bad weather is hampering this.
Sonam D Bhutia, Superintendent of Police, Mangan in North Sikkim, said, "115 tourists are stranded in Lachen and 1,350 in Lachung. The way out of there was closed due to landslides. Tourists have been advised to stay in the hotel itself. They will be evacuated from there when the roads open."
Level of Teesta river close to danger mark
According to the police, due to continuous rains, the water level of the Teesta river has also reached close to the danger mark.
Due to the rising water level, a Bailey bridge connecting Mangan to Chungthang has been partially damaged.
On Saturday, a red alert was issued in the area for about three hours and people were advised to stay indoors. Electricity supply has also come to a halt in most areas of North Sikkim.
The administration has currently banned the permits issued for North Sikkim.
Car fell into river, tourists untraced
On the other hand, nine out of 11 people travelling in a car full of tourists have not been traced yet after the car fell into Teesta river in Munsithang area. One tourist has died while two were rescued.
Apart from District Administrative Officer Anant Jain, the Superintendent of Police also reached the spot along with other administrative officials and reviewed the relief and rescue operations.
This car fell into the river after falling into a ditch on Thursday night. Tourists from Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura were travelling in it.
Out of these, only two tourists from Odisha, Supratim Nayak and Sairaj Jena, have been rescued so far.
According to latest reports, search has been halted as Teests swelled.
The Sikkim government has said that the missing tourists include Ajit Kumar Nayak, Sunita Nayak, Sushil Jana and Itishree Jana from Odisha, Devjyoti Jay Deb and Swapnil Deb from Tripura and Kaushalendra Pratap Singh and Ankita Singh from Uttar Pradesh.