KOLKATA: The Sikkim chief secretary, while attending a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), virtually, expressed concern about how the Teesta Basin in Sikkim as well as in Bengal was filled with weapons, ammunitions and explosives washed away from an army ammunition depot in North Sikkim.
“The flooding has completely destroyed the Army Ammunition Depot at Munshithang (above Chungthang), due to which the Teesta Basin is filled with weapons, ammunition and explosives, which endanger the public by making it difficult to clear debris and sludge, particularly adjacent to the riverbank dwellings,” the Sikkim government issued in a press statement.
The chief secretary informed the committee that to prevent any accident, the public have been warned to notify the local police if any ammunition or explosives are seen and that the army was carrying out controlled detonation wherever necessary.
Incidentally, on Thursday, an 8-year-old boy died and six others, including two children, were injured when a mortar shell they had collected from the Teesta riverbank exploded at Maynaguri in Jalpaiguri. Indian army and Jalpaiguri police appealed to people to refrain from handling any military items that may be found along the riverbed over the next few days and inform the nearest police station with immediate effect.
