A high level meeting was held at Chintan Bhawan here to take a review of the present situation and to prepare a memorandum to be submitted to the Union Government.
Meanwhile, Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling distributed ex-gratia and relief to four hundred earthquake victims of East Sikkim at Chintan Bhawan here yesterday.
He also directed the administrative machinery and the Panchayats to shift the people to safer places so that no further damages are caused to life and property due to landslides.
He claimed that the earthquake was not because of power projects. Earthquakes have been occurring in this area during the past years when there was no power projects in the State, stated Chamling, brushing aside allegations levelled against his government for having commissioned 29 hydro power projects in a seismic zone like Sikkim.
This is a natural calamity, he reiterated. Due to the quake, the engineers and labourers working in such projects have left the State in fear. This will result in one year delay in the work of the projects resulting in a loss of about Rs 500 crores to the State exchequer and a loss to the nation as well, said the Chief Minister.
The CM added that the hydro project tunnels dug out are just 100 feet below ground level and the earthquake that devastated the State is learnt to have originated below 20km from the surface. So it is clear that the HEP tunnels are not the real cause of earthquake.
“The intention of bringing hydro projects was to reduce the poverty level in the State besides making the State economically strong”, the CM said. In support of his argument, Chamling stated that there are numerous countries like Canada and Switzerland which have large number of hydro projects.
The CM informed that the dead toll reported is 77, out of which 60 are Sikkimese while 1,000 houses across the State has suffered damages.
The occurrence of earthquake in the State is a natural calamity and Sikkim since long have been facing quakes in 1932, 1980, 1990, 2006 and 2011, added Chamling.
He claimed that no fresh earthquakes are likely to rock Sikkim immediately, but the hilly terrains, rocky belts across the State have definitely developed cracks. So, the chances of slides have increased many folds, he said.
The CM also declared that houses that have collapsed due to earth quake will be replaced by one story RCC buildings. The government will also compensate for the loss of livestock
He further directed the officials to restore the road connectivity, water supply and electricity before ‘Dashera’. The road connectivity to Lachung, Lachen, Chungthang and some of the villages in Dzongu is not yet restored, added the CM.
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