Gangtok, Oct 7 (IANS): Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra on Saturday said that the government is closely monitoring the situation in Sikkim.

He said that all the necessary support and assistance for the state is underway and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are in constant touch with the state Chief Minister with regard to the extent of damages and rescue and relief work.

The government, in the wake of the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), Shah has deputed Mishra to visit Sikkim.

Mishra reached Gangtok on Friday night, and chaired a meeting with the Chief Secretary and concerned head of departments of the state government, and senior officers of the Army, ITBP, BRO, NHIDCL and NHPC at Gangtok, on Saturday morning.

Addressing the meeting, Mishra said that the government is closely monitoring the situation in Sikkim and all the necessary support and assistance for the state is underway.

He said that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister are in constant touch with the State Chief Minister with regard to the extent of damages and rescue and relief work.

Mishra further said that the government has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Central Team comprising of senior officers of five Ministries of the Government of India, namely Agriculture, Road Transport & Highways, Jal Shakti, Energy and Finance.

“The team will visit the State from October 8 to take stock of the ground situation, assess the damages and provide assistance wherever necessary,” he said.

He also said that the central government has granted an advance sanction of the allocated SDRF for 2023-24 to enable the State to carry out immediate rescue, relief and restoration.

He also asserted that the government urged the state government officials to prepare a short term and long-term plan to effectively accomplish the task of re-building the damaged or lost infrastructure in the shortest possible time.

Earlier, Chief Secretary, Sikkim briefed Mishra about the sequence of events since the early hours of October 4 that led to the disaster, and the extent of damages.

He apprised the Minister about the extensive damages to roads and other vital infrastructures like telecommunication, water and electricity. He also pointed out the casualties and the status of the relief camps.

In the afternoon, Mishra also visited the Army camp at Burdong where maximum casualties have happened. He will meet the Chief Minister on Sunday and will visit affected areas and relief camps.