Sikkim - Seven dead in Twin Accidents

9:42 PM

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Tourism

Seven People Dead in Twin Accidents in East and North Sikkim - 6 were Tourists from 24 North Parganas, West Bengal.

First accident took place at Phyangla in East Sikkim. A vehicle (MAX) Number SK 03J 0124 met with an accident while returnimg from Lachung at Phyangla.

Total number of eight tourists were there in the vehicle, 6 of them died on spot, reported sources. 1 kid and 1 other person are at CRH under going treatment.

Among the deceased two were females, three kids and one male. They are from North 24 parganas (West Bengal). Dead bodies are rescued by Sikkim police, SDRF and Home Guard.

Second accident also took place at Lachung. A tourist vehicle bearing registration number SK-01 Z 0228, drivers name Mohan Gurung met with an accident last night at Lachung near Chumpyung Kyung.

Several officials along with locals were on the spot for rescue operations. It was found that Mohan Gurung was coming back after dropping the guest at their hotel. He was alone in the vehicle at the time of accident. Mohan was rescued but was declared dead on the way to Mangan by the Mangan Medical Officer.

Reported by Ajay Agarwal from Gangtok and Thupden Lachungpa from Lachung/Chungthang for VOS

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Sikkim -NH10 Landslide, 500 vehicles stranded as road blocked between Singtam and Ranipool

8:32 AM

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Sikkim

Gangtok, July 1: Around 500 vehicles were left stranded after a landslide blocked traffic on NH10 between Singtam and Ranipool in East Sikkim this morning.

Administrative sources said heavy rain had triggered the landslide at 32nd Mile around 7am and the Border Roads Organisation had cleared the highway for one-way traffic in two hours.

"A portion of land above the road slipped and fell on the highway. Heavy rain had triggered the landslide," said a police source.

Although the highway was restored in two hours by the BRO, only one-way traffic was allowed as small boulders were still falling on the road.

Representational photo

Via telegraph

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Sikkim vigilance department orders strict action against bribery

10:57 AM

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Sikkim

Gangtok, June 28: The vigilance department here has issued an advisory to all government office heads asking them to ensure supervision and initiate action against employees found demanding bribes.

The advisory was issued on June 23.

"Despite several directives, some government employees seem to be indulging in acts of illegal gratification by demanding bribes for doing routine official work," a vigilance official said.

Between April and May this year, 26 government officials were arrested by the vigilance department on charges of misusing public money.

"There are also cases in which the senior government officials ask for bribes and commissions for processing and clearing TA\DA claims, medical reimbursement, grant of increment, leave encashment, GPF withdrawals and pension claims, victim of such circumstances can lodge their compliant too," reads the advisory.

According to Sikkim Service Conduct Rule, warning, withholding of increment and suspension or termination from service could be meted out to those taking bribes

Via Telegraph

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Sikkim - Four die as SUV falls into gorge, BRO faces bridge ire

9:17 AM

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Sikkim

Gangtok, June 23: Four persons were killed and three injured in Chanjey today when an SUV they were travelling in rolled 250ft into a gorge because of alleged negligence of the driver.

The inspector of Temi police station, Bimal Gurung, said seven passengers had hired the car on share basis to reach Gangtok from Khecelpari and the accident happened due to the negligence of the driver."Villagers informed police about the incident. Damber Kumari Sharma, 43, and driver Tarcho Lepcha, 30, died on the spot. The rest were admitted to the district hospital in Singtam," he said.

"Sonam Dadul Lepcha,30, and Parishari Ahmed, 38, succumbed to head injuries at the district hospital. Later, other three injured were admitted to STNM hospital," he added.

According to STNM Hospital sources, Chenga Doma, 18, Chultim Zangpo Lepcha, 32, and Aita Bahadhur Subba, 28, suffered body and leg injuries

Sikkim  - Four die as SUV falls

Gurung said: "According to an injured passenger, the driver was listening to music using a headphone connected to his mobile. The accident happened as Tarcho lost control while changing song and the car fell into the gorge. The headphone was found plugged in his ears."said the Inspector of Temi police station, Bimal Gurung.Inspector Bimal Gurung- ' They were travelling to Gangtok in a taxi on share basis when the incident took place'

The local villagers and the police recovered the bodies.

The incident occurred at 9am along Rabong-Singtam road, around 45km from here.

BRO faces bridge ire
Gangtok, June 23: The Border Roads Organisation that maintains the North Sikkim Highway came under fire at a meeting today as the road connecting tourist destinations like Lachung, Lachen, Gurudongmar lake and Yumthang valley in North District snapped twice in a span of one month.

A bailey bridge over a stream at Rit Chu along the highway had crashed first on May 17 and again on June 18. After the first collapse, the bridge had been restored temporarily and vehicles, especially those carrying tourists, started moving to Chungthang on June 9. At both the times, the bridge was damaged in landslides triggered by heavy rains.

The damaged bridge at Rit Chu.

After the second crash on June 18, the BRO is yet to repair the structure.

Today, a meeting was held in the conference hall of the forest department here, where all three MLAs from the North District, chief secretary, home secretary, the collector and the superintendent of police of the district and BRO officials were present. Local people and tourism stakeholders also attended the meeting.

"We are fed up with the deplorable condition of the road in North Sikkim. The BRO is not doing its work satisfactorily. The residents are facing problems as the road is closed most of the time," said a dzumsa member, Chedup Bhutia.

The president of the Travel Agents' Association of Sikkim, Paljor Lachungpa, said almost 90 per cent of the people in north Sikkim depended on tourism and the frequent road closure was hampering the livelihood of those in Chungthang, Lachung and Lachen.

The general secretary of the association, Barap Namgyal Bhutia, claimed that there was a loss of around Rs 5 crore because of cancellations of bookings following the bridge collapse in the district in the past one month.

A senior tourism official informed that more than seven lakh tourists visited Sikkim every year and 80 per cent of them went to North District.

The chief secretary, A.K. Srivastava, said he had sought a detailed report on the road condition from the BRO. "Once we get the report, we will pursue the matter with agencies concerned. There should be a permanent solution to the problem," he said.

The Commander of the BRO, B.K. Sarkar, said the agency was putting its best effort to maintain the roads. "We are doing our work. Sometimes, the inclement weather is also a hindrance. For now, we are working to restore the road at Rit Chu and it may take at least 10 days," said Sarkar.


Via Telegraph

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Birkha Bahadhur Muringla to receive Bhanu Puraskar on 202th Bhanu Jayanti

9:08 AM

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Sikkim

Writes NIRMAL MANGAR

Gangtok, June 20: The Nepali Sahitya Parishad here has announced the name of writer, poet and musician Birkha Bahadhur Muringla for Bhanu Puraskar, 2016, for his contribution to literature and music.

Muringla's name was finalised at a meeting of the selection committee on June 14.

The award will be conferred on him at the 202th Bhanu Jayanti celebrations here on July 13 . The annual award includes an anga vastra, tamra patra, certificate and cash.

BB Muringla conferred Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture Samman in 2014 - File Photo

"He had designed the Limbo syllabus for government schools," said the deputy director of the state HRD department, S.B. Subba.

The 73-year-old writer and musician is from Lingchom village in West Sikkim.

"The contribution of Mr Muringla to literature is outstanding. He may be referred to as the Balmiki of Limbo literature," said president of Sahitya Parishad, Rudra Poudyal.

Muringla was born on April 13, 1943. He studied in Tashi Namgyal Academy and Darjeeling Government College.

Via  Telegraph

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Sikkim Highway connecting Mangan with Chungthang reopened

10:17 AM

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Tourism

Gangtok, June 10: The highway connecting Mangan with Chungthang in North district has been reopened for light vehicles with the Border Roads Organisation temporarily restoring the bailey bridge that collapsed over a stream at Rit Chu.

North District collector Karmpa Bonpo today said around 250 small vehicles like SUVs and cars carrying about 2,400 tourists had headed for destinations like Lachen, Lachung, Yumthang valley and Gurudongmar lake this morning.

"The bailey bridge which had been washed away by rain on May 17 was temporarily restored around 3pm yesterday. As of now, only light vehicles are allowed to pass through the bridge," said Bonpo.

Following the bridge collapse, over 300 tourists returning to Gangtok from Lachen, Lachung, Yumthang valley and Gurudongmar lake were left stranded. Villagers and police built a log bridge over the stream the following day and arranged transport for the stranded tourists.

Sikkim Highway connecting Mangan with Chungthang reopened

The bridge, part of the North Sikkim Highway, has the North District headquarters, Mangan, on one side and Chungthang on the other.

On May 28, police check-post here resumed issuing permits to tourists bound for north Sikkim after taking an undertaking that they were making the visit at their own risk.

As the bridge was yet to be restored, tourists had to take a taxi up to Rit Chu and then cross the affected stretch on foot. They had to get into another taxi to reach the destinations.

Rit Chu is around 75km from Gangtok.

The collector said the bridge would be reopened for heavy vehicles only after the strengthening work was over.

"To enable the BRO to strengthen the bridge, it has been decided to close the road for traffic at Rit Chu from 10am to 12am and from 2pm to 4pm for a few days," he added.

A senior BRO official said it would take at least 10 days to completely restore the bridge and open the road for heavy vehicles.

Tour operators are happy with the reopening of the highway at Rit Chu.

"Finally, we have received some good news. We were facing so much trouble as bookings were being cancelled," said tour operator Rajen Chettri.

Source Telegraph

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Smriti Irani to lay the foundation of the NIT in Sikkim

9:11 AM

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Sikkim

Gangtok, June 8: The Union human resource development minister, Smriti Irani, is scheduled to visit Sikkim on June 24 and lay the foundation of the National Institute of Technology at Thekabong in East District on the same day.

Sikkim HRD principal secretary G.P. Upadhaya today said Irani would be in the state for at least three days, during which she was slated to hold interactions with ministers and bureaucrats and chair the meeting of a parliamentary committee on her ministry.

"The Union HRD ministry has accepted the proposal of setting up of the NIT campus at Thekabong. The Union HRD minister will lay the foundation of the campus during her visit to Sikkim on June 24," said Upadhaya.

Thekabong is nearly 30km from Gangtok and close to Pakyong where Sikkim's first airport is being built. The state government has acquired 172 acres of land for the campus.

The Sikkim NIT was set up in 2010 and is operating out of a government building at Rabong in South District on a temporary basis with six departments.

Chief Minister of Sikkim, Shri Pawan Chamling meeting the Union Minister for
Human Resource Development - file photo

Residents of Thekabong are happy that the NIT is coming up in their village. "Employment will be generated and villagers can do more business after the campus is established. We are grateful to the government for bringing the project to our area," said a villager, D.B. Chettri.

Upadhaya said Irani would hold a meeting with Sikkim ministers and bureaucrats at Chintan Bhawan here on June 26.

"State HRD minister R.B. Subba will place our demands before the Union minister at the meeting. There are four major demands: establishment of IIT/IIM and model degree colleges in the state, granting permission to start a state university and the upgrade of the Law College to National Law University," he said.

Irani will also visit a few government schools. "Our department is yet to finalise the schools which will be visited by the Union Minister. Keeping the time constraint in mind, we would take her to some schools in East District," said an HRD official.

On June 25, Irani will chair the meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament of the MHRD in Gangtok.

She is expected to leave Sikkim on June 26 or the next day.

Telegraph

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Three Gorkha youths rescued the tourist and grabbed the rapist in North Sikkim

1:13 PM

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West Bengal

Three Gorkha youths Biren Tamang, Priyanka Tamang & Rajiv Thapa from Gangtok, Sikkim successfully rescued the tourist gal and grabbed the rapist Taxi Driver Prem Rai (22) along with uncle and relatives of the tourist at the sub highway after Kabi Village of North Sikkim around 2 A.M. morning of 15th May’2016.

Priyanka Tamang received the late night call from her colleague residing at Siliguri , West Bengal mentioning that her uncle daughters are missing at Gangtok since many hours and wants cooperation from her side. Priyanka called her friend Biren Tamang and Rajiv Thapa about the incidence and later uncle of the missing tourist also met with Priyanka. 2 vechiles departed from the Gangtok in search of the missing gals , 1 vehicle carrying Priyanka, Biren & Rajiv and another vehicle carrying uncle of one gal and one relative of another tourist gal.

Around 2 AM on the notice of the Priyanka eyes vehicle was found the sub highway of North Sikkim and all of them rushed hurriedly and found that only one gal was there who was senseless. Priyanka taken care of that small gal and Driver Prem Rai was grabbed by others. Driver had used many filthy languages but again he was grabbed and taken to Phodong Police Station of North Sikkim were other 2 gals were there safely with the respected Sikkim Police personnel’s.

Three Gorkha youth  rescued the tourist and grabbed the rapist in North Sikkim

As per tourist girls statement Driver had given them some substance diluted mineral water and one gal became dizzy and other two flew from their place after getting scolded by the driver. So many stories are there as narrated by Priyanka whose brilliancy has able to rescue the gal and grabbed that rapist driver.

Phodong Police Station , North Sikkim later sent back that culprit to Sardar Thana , Gangtok along with Priyanka Tamang and group with Police Personnel’s and they reached Gangtok around 6 AM in the morning.

Priyanka Tamang have 2 sisters who are studying at Kolkatta, West Bengal and she thinks that every human being should take initiative every time to be part of humanism work. Humanism exists but it should be taken out without fear.

Priyanka Tamang is a Radio Jockey (RJ) at Radio Misty 95 FM Gangtok, Biren Tamang is the Film Director and have own production house name after White Horse Production and Rajiv Thapa is a College Student from Gangtok.

Shared by Suresh Lama, Social Activist Rangpo

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