With roads and bridges washed away and rescue teams yet to reach the epicentre of the north Sikkim flash floods, activists who have opposed the construction of large hydel projects on river Teesta are refusing to call the tragedy only a natural disaster.
The lower part of the Lhonak glacier in the Sikkim Himalayas started to overflow and breached one side of the lake on the night of October 3. This led the water in river Teesta to rise abnormally and swept away several areas including the 1,200 MW dam at Chungthang in Sikkim’s Mangan district. Experts have described the phenomenon as a glacial lake outburst flood.
Also read: Sikkim flash floods updates | Track live updates here
