Lachen (North
Sikkim): the untold story
SaveTheHills (STH) is a group of concerned citizens
who are raising awareness about landslides in Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya. Many
landslides are the direct or indirect result of human interference and
preventable if sufficient care is taken. As such, unless we begin a
comprehensive and sustained programme towards landslide management, prevention
and mitigation, the consequences of ignoring years of human callousness will,
in the future be devastating.
STH and Junkeri
Studio (JS) of Kalimpong have extensively documented the Glacial Lake Outburst
Flood (GLOF) disaster of 04 Oct 2023 and while doing so the team visited
numerous places in the Teesta Valley both in West Bengal and Sikkim.
On 17-18 Nov 2023 the team was in Chungthang, North Sikkim where the GLOF
destroyed the 1200 MW Sikkim Urja dam and caused humungous devastation there. Scores
of people and photographed and the report was published in their blog,
https://savethehills.blogspot.com.
EXCERPTS:
Having gone that far, we were unable to visit Lachen, a small town 39 km north
of Chungthang because the roads were totally destroyed by the GLOF. We did make
an attempt but the road ceased to exist approximately 5 km north of Chungthang
– the road continues to be non-operational even today.
On 17 Feb 2024, we were fortunate to meet Mr Dathup Lachenpa (DL) a person in
the tourism business in Lachen; he had walked across to Chungthang from Lachen
because there is still no motorable road.
He was in Kalimpong for brief while and we caught up with him to check how the
GLOF impacted town of Lachen. Our interview with Mr Lachenpa:
Q: Welcome, Dathup. Firstly, can you tell us a bit about Lachen and what is
the main source of livelihood there?
DL: The approximate population of Lachen is around 2000, the altitude of the
town is approximately 9000 and main source of livelihood is tourism but there
are quite a few government contractors and employees as well.
Q: Lachen was the first 'urban' centre which was hit by the GLOF from South
Lhonak Glacier on 03 Oct 2023. Can you tell us whether you had any early
warning regarding the floods since we know there was an Indo-Tibetan Border
Police (ITBP) post further north who had issued alerts. Also, approximately at
what time did the GLOF hit Lachen?
DL: I am not sure of the exact time when the GLOF hit us but it must have been
around midnight – we were sleeping and heard this sound like a huge wind which
woke us up. My home is a little above the town and when I went outside, there
was no storm – the weather was quite clear and I could see stars in the sky.
Since there was no storm but the loud noise persisted, I suspected something
must be happening in the river and then I saw a lot of smoke rising there,
that’s when I realized it maybe the river was overflowing or it was a
landslide. I never expected the GLOF (from South Lhonak Lake) to be hitting us.
I only realized in the morning that this was a major disaster when we went out
towards the river and saw how much devastation was caused by the force of the
river. At around 12.30 am on 04 Oct 2023, the electricity and cell phone system
went off. I expected a lot of damage by the impact but never on this scale of
devastation.
Q: How close is Lachen to the Teesta or more correctly Lachen Chu river? Is
the town of Lachen on the banks of the river?
DL: Lachen town is located on higher ground, a little above the river.
Q: Was there any destruction
or damage to property or were there any fatalities in Lachen due to the GLOF?
DL: Yes, we ourselves lost a new
home which we were constructing and I believe two labourers from Border Roads
Organization (BRO)were swept away from the banks of the river at Zema. Zema is
slightly north of Lachen towards the glacier.
Q: And in all this, you did not get any early warning whatsoever?
DL: As far as I know, we did not
get any early warning.
Q: Do you know if the government authorities or Pipon (Headman) received any
early warning? - the ITBP post near the glacier sent some warnings, were they
received at Lachen?
DL: The ITBP camp is located up
there at Zanak 2, maybe they informed their people downstream but nobody
informed us.
Q: So what you are saying is that the casualties were limited and damage was
less only because Lachen town is located at higher ground and the Lachen Chu or
the Teesta river flows in a valley below.
DL: Yes
Q: What is the damage to infrastructure and bridges around Lachen?
DL: There was a lot of damage. In
Lachen, 4 bridges were washed away. 3 bridges connected Lachen to Chungthang
and one connected us to Thangu.
Q: Have these communication lines (bridges) been restored?
DL: Communication towards Thangu has been restored, with an army bailey bridge
being constructed, so light vehicular traffic is now possible. This bridge is
on the river bed and may not survive the monsoons so they are re-building the
other one.
Three bridges towards Chungthang were washed away, so the route has been
diverted and now there is only one bridge which has to be crossed at a place
called Boonsoi, 10 km south of Lachen. This RCC bridge at Boonsoi survived the
flood.
Q: We know that the BRO is working on the road from Chungthang northwards to
Lachen. I believe the progress of this work is very slow and I also know people
from Lachen are working on the road towards Chungthang.
DL: Yes, we (Lachen public) have successfully completed one portion from Lachen
towards Chungthang which was very difficult at a place called Taru. We
encountered only solid rock there. The BRO helped us and we have managed to
clear that section for vehicular traffic so the road up to Menchithang, a
distance of approx 20 km from Lachen is motorable. So now we have to walk 7-8 kms
after which we reach another motorable section towards Chungthang. In this
regard, the Lachenpas made three wooden bridges.
DL: At that time almost 70% of the people were in Thangu, harvesting potatoes
and radish and the rest were in Lachen. We habitually stock rations and that's
how we survived - on stored rations.
Q: Did the army or air force also help in ration supply?
DL: No, but they certainly helped with the evacuation - the relief material
came from local people of Sikkim.
Q: Were there any tourists in Lachen at that time and how were they evacuated?
DL: Yes, we had around 500 tourists who were stranded in Lachen at that
time; they were evacuated by AF choppers from Chatten (army base near Lachen).
Q: What was the impact of the disaster on livelihoods of people?
DL: The impact is huge because we lost a lot of revenue in tourism – Oct to Dec
is a big tourist season for us and we have lost these 3 months and we are not
certain in 2024 as well, because road access to our area is still not possible.
Q: Fortunately, it did not snow heavily in North Sikkim during this winter
and as such you did not have much problems with ice-bound roads etc. How
concerned are you about the forthcoming monsoons with the road condition being
what it is? How will you manage your supplies?
DL: Getting supplies through thru Dongkha La pass (which is at 18,000’) would
be impossible but what people do is that during the annual puja time in winters
they buy a lot of rations from monks and stock up – also people in Lachen were stocking
up dry rations like oil and rice from Menchithang etc through porters who would
carry the stuff. However, we would have a problem with LPG cylinders (even
though we have firewood) because people largely use gas for cooking these days.
Q: What about health care issues in Lachen after the GLOF?
DL: Yes, this is a major concern. Recently a 27 year old man from Lachen died
in a hospital in Siliguri because he had to be evacuated through Dongkha La
pass (18,000 ft) when he was ill; this is a huge challenge for a sick person.
So right now, we are most scared of falling sick in Lachen and hope that no one
becomes unwell because we only have a primary health centre which does not have
many facilities and presently, I don’t think we have a doctor there.
Q: So what happens to the sick and elderly people at
Lachen?
DL: (Chuckles) – We just pray that no one falls ill.
Q: What about children’s education?
DL: They were at home during the winter holidays and have now returned to
school – some of them went by car through Dongkha La pass others walked back to
Chungthang etc – most of them, walked back I think, because they were scared of
heights at Dongkha La.
Q: The hikers trail for walking back (between Lachen and
Chungthang) seems very precarious.
DL: Yes, the footpath for walking is quite dangerous, if one slips there is no
chance of survival – at many places the path is not more than a foot wide.
Q: So how long do you from a layman’s perspective, expect the Chungthang –
Lachen road to be restored?
DL: Our Chief Minister had promised that after rebuilding the bridge in
Chungthang town, all the resources (machinery and manpower) would be diverted
to the Lachen road. That has not happened. Yes, machines are there but not the
type which is required to cut rock and so on. We were hoping that road
communication would be restored within 2-3 months but it has been four months
and progress is very slow. With no heavy earth moving machinery at site, people
are saying it may even take a year for the road to be restored.
Q: Immediately after the disaster, were there any homeless people or was
there any requirement for relief and shelter?
DL: Some areas and parts of roads especially in the bazar (town) were cracked
and people were reluctant to live there, because of rumours and continuous
landslides. So people shifted to relative's home at higher grounds near the
monastery. However, there were no homes which were destroyed in Lachen.
Relief supplies as far as I can remember, came in after a week or so. I think
this was contributions from locals in and around Sikkim and it was flown in by
choppers.
Q: Can you tell us more about the Chungthang-Lachen road
status?
DL: Before the GLOF, the Chungthang-Lachen trip used to take 1 hour by vehicle.
Now we can travel by vehicle from both Lachen and Chungthang but the midsection
is still not motorable and we have to walk that stretch and it takes us around
2 hrs. The vehicles used are all SUVs with 4-wheel drive.
Q: You mentioned visiting the Lachen Chu river a number
of times after 04 Oct 2023 – can you describe the scene? Were there any
landslides? And how did people from Lachen spend the next few days after the
GLOF?
DL: The power supply and mobile networks went dead from 04 Oct 2023 – people
were scared and moved here and there, trying to find out what was happening. We
noticed the river was still swelling up and there were lots of landslides
taking place in and around. When we went to Zema where there was a bridge which
connected Lachen to Thangu, we found that the landscape had changed totally, we
could not recognize where the bridge was. The whole day the river was flowing
at the same high level.
Two days or so later when we went towards Zema again, we found a huge increase
in landslide activity all along the road.
Q: We are aware that a Swiss and Govt of India team had gone up to South
Lhonak Glacier (in 2023) – did they go through Lachen?
DL: We heard about that too but I do not know the details. People were in fact
blaming them for what happened – and believe that they may have done something.
We believe our lakes are sacred and do pujas and visit monasteries while
visiting these (holy) places.
Q: How much time would it take to reach South Lhonak lake from Lachen?
DL: Now there is a motorable road to Zanak 2 where they have the last ITBP camp
and that takes around 6 hrs from Lachen. Beyond that I have no idea.
Q: Do you know whether (the ITBP camp at) Zanak 2 was affected by the GLOF?
DL: I think so, I think I saw some photographs.
Q: Have people returned to Lachen from Thangu?
DL: Yes, its wintertime and its not possible to stay in Thangu. Everyone has
returned but some are in Gangtok and others in Siliguri etc and children have
returned to school.
Q: What is the approximate economic loss which took place
due to the GLOF say in terms of loss of farmland, destruction of orchards etc.
DL: I can say we have lost a lot of land – pasture land for example. Our dairy
animals go to lower altitudes during winters, to places like Denga which was a
little above Chungthang. These areas have been washed away by the GLOF. People
are now living on the roadside at Rabong and so on. Further, I think in terms
of loss, all of Sikkim has been impacted - shops, hotels and so on. I am sure
the loss is huge and in many crores.
Q: Do you know of any loss to government departments
including the army?
DL: Fisheries department have lost some trout farms, animal husbandry
department have lost their angora farm, Tibetan sheep have lost their grazing
land.
(Destruction at army camp at Menchithang)
Q: What sort of help have you received from the
administration?
DL: It has been four months since the GLOF and we still have not seen the
District Magistrate (DM) on site or anywhere. We met the ADC (Additional
District Collector) who came to Lachen after 7-8 days, maybe he was
representing the DM – we don’t know.
With the help of the Government, the electricity was restored after 8-9 days,
most probably because we have a new power station in Lachen, which was not
affected by the disaster. Our cell phones (only BSNL network) started working
after a month or so but the performance was poor, with a lot of disturbances.
Q: You mean you had no communication for a month?
DL: No, I think the ADC had come with a satellite phone but I am not sure how
many could make calls. We also could use the army lines but that too was
difficult because of the long queues of people waiting.
Q: How do you see the next few months with the monsoons coming up?
DL: We are really scared of the monsoons and the heavy rain it will bring. It
will affect us a lot and people are thinking of stocking supplies before the
rains and we will avoid traveling during that time because of the road
conditions.
Q: Can you tell us the cost of travel from Lachen to Chungthang via the
Dongkha La pass?
DL: I heard the freight charges of utility (short body) truck bringing
supplies from Mangan to Lachen via Dongkha La is Rs 25,000.
Q: Thank you so much for your time, Mr Dathup Lachenpa and for sharing this
information about what happened in Lachen. It will certainly be most useful for
people studying the October 2023 GLOF disaster in the Teesta Valley.
Photo credits: Dathup Lachenpa
Praful Rao
Email: savethehills@gmail.com
with
Praveen Chhetri
Junkeri Studios, Kalimpong
Email: himalayagallery@gmail.com
