Dear All,
On 4 October 2023, heavy rains caused the glacial South Lhonak lake in Sikkim, a state in northeastern India, to breach its banks, causing a glacial lake outburst flood. The flood reached the Teesta III Dam at Chungthang at midnight, before its gates could be opened, destroying the dam in minutes. Water levels downstream in the River Teesta rose by up to twenty feet, causing widespread damage.
Water levels downstream in the River Teesta subsequently rose by fifteen to twenty feet, inundating many areas in Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong, and Namchi districts in Sikkim, and Kalimpong, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling districts in West Bengal. The flood also went onwards to Bangladesh, where it affected hundreds of villages along the Teesta River and Char areas.
Fifteen bridges across the state were washed away, and the north of the state, including the capital Gangtok, was cut off from the rest of India as parts of National Highway 10 collapsed. 3,000 tourists were stranded across the state. Towns and cities like Chungthang, Dikchu, Singtam, Rangpo, Melli, and Teesta Bazaar were very heavily damaged.
The government of Sikkim declared the flood a disaster and have set up 23 relief camps across 4 districts
We will try to help them in the following ways-
1) Providing ration kits and hygiene kits, essential medicines, to as many people as possible.
2) Providing training to volunteers for basic first aid and training in basic medicines.
If you want to support, following are the ways in which you can support-
1) Donations for sending ration, hygiene kits, educational kits, etc.
2) Volunteering to go to the affected site and have some educational activities with children.
3) If you want to volunteer to manage any part of this voluntary work, you can volunteer.