Darjeeling (West Bengal): Over 1000 tourists including women and children, stranded due to heavy snowfall Chhangu in the upper reaches of East Sikkim have been rescued by the Army.
According to officials since Wednesday afternoon, Chhangu, Nathula, and nearby areas of East Sikkim experienced heavy snowfall due to which the temperature plummeted to almost zero. Traffic also came to a standstill disrupting people's lives.
They further revealed that due to heavy accumulation, it became extremely risky to drive as vehicles were skidding along Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, the only road connecting Gangtok. There was a huge traffic congestion on a 15 km stretch of road.
Also Read: Operation Himarat: Indian Army rescues 400 tourists trapped in snowfall in Sikkim
According to officials seeing the situation, the Sikkim administration reached out to the Army for help. Sikkim Police joined hands with Army jawans in the rescue operation. The soldiers rescued the tourists and took them to safer places and provided them with warm clothes, food and medical help.
Following the rescue operations, the jawans started cleaning the road and by morning arrangements were made to send the tourists to Gangtok. Speaking to reporters, Indian Army Colonel Anjan Kumar Basumatari said " This time the number was huge. But our jawans carried out rescue operations with caution. Every tourist was rescued and shifted to a safer place. Indian Army is always alert for such situations."
Two days back the Army launched Operation Himarat to rescue 400 tourists stuck in around 100 vehicles from heavy snowfall in East Sikkim through Operation Himarat. The jawans received lavish praise for the rescue operation from netizens.
