All tourists safely evacuated, Lachung to open for tourists from today: Officials

Indian Express

29-04-2025

ALL THE tourists – a large number of whom were stranded after a landslide in northern Sikkim due to heavy rain in the region – have now been safely evacuated and there are no casualties, officials said on Tuesday.
The tourists had been stranded for one night (Thursday) but rescue operations began at the earliest, the officials said.
Former chairman Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation Lukendra Rasaily said, 'Two days ago, all the people were evacuated and no casualties have been reported. The Sikkim Police are taking care of everything and the Border Road Organisation (BRO) are working on clearing the roads. Lachung will open for tourists from Wednesday.'
Samrat Sanyal, secretary, Himalayan Hospitality and tourism development network, told The Indian Express, 'There were around 1,400 tourists from across the country who were visiting Sikkim at that point in time all have been evacuated and have safely returned home .'
After heavy rains on April 24, 2025, which triggered massive landslides in North Sikkim, the Chungthang-Lachung Road was blocked at six major points. Restoration efforts by the BRO and local authorities cleared the road for light vehicles on Saturday, enabling the safe evacuation of over 1,000 stranded tourists to Gangtok.
From Chungthang, the vehicles reached Mangan, the district headquarters, via a reconstructed bailey bridge at Sangkalang which was opened for traffic movement. Landslides have occurred at Munshithang on the Lachen-Chungthang road and at Lema/Bob on the Lachung-Chungthang road. The situation was aggravated due to continuous rain in the region.
The district administration had instructed all tour operators not to send tourists to North Sikkim on Friday and until further notice, but with the roads being cleared, the situation will soon be back to normal, officials said.