Gangtok, Feb. 3: The Sikkim forest department will receive Rs 13.12 crore from a Japanese government agency to rebuild the infrastructure damaged in last year’s earthquake. The amount has been sanctioned by the Japanese International Co-operation Agency that is funding a project to ensure alternative livelihood for people living on forest fringes in Sikkim. The release of the amount was announced by JICA representative Vineet Sarin during a review of the Sikkim Biodiversity Conservation and Forest Management Project (SBFP) here today.

Gangtok, Jan. 31: Seven government buildings, including the Raj Bhavan and the Sikkim Assembly, will be powered by solar energy from April this year.
The project to install solar lights will be implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission of the ministry of new and renewable energy.
Officials said the Raj Bhavan and the Assembly would draw a daily solar power of 30KW and 20KW respectively.

Gangtok: Sikkim was rocked by a quake measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale on Monday, after which a bridge collapsed in east Sikkim killing eight people. The incident happened three months after a 6.9 intensity earthquake left over 70 people dead in the state. Mild tremors were felt in Darjeeling, too. But no damage was reported from either Gangtok or other populated towns and villages in the state. There is suspicion that the tremor had weakened the bridge as the region has been rattled by over 50 tremors in the past three months.

Gangtok, Dec. 12: Almost one third of agricultural land in Sikkim has passed the first test as the state races to achieve organic status in four years.
Certificates attesting to the organic cultivation on 18,453 hectares of land will not only fetch higher prices for the agriculture produce but will also boost Sikkim’s burgeoning homestay tourism.

The certificates were issued in the first week of December by agencies accredited to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) under the ministry of commerce and industries.

Gangtok, Nov. 10: The Sikkim forest department is planning an aerial survey of Kanchenjungha National Park next week to assess if the bio-diversity hotspot has suffered damage or wildlife was killed in the September quake.

There have been no reports of any wildlife deaths from the other reserve forests and wildlife sanctuaries of the state but large tracts of KNP spread over 1784sqkm in the West and North districts are remote and almost inaccessible.

- jn marg opened, visitors relish nathu-la & chhangu lake
The trinity of Sikkim tourism — Nathu-la, Chhangu Lake and Baba Mandir in the East district — was declared open for visitors coming through the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg for the first time today after the September 18 earthquake.

The high altitude spots with Nathu-la at 14,400ft were closed to tourists following multiple slides along the JN Marg triggered by the quake.

The recent 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Sikkim, which claimed more than 100 lives, was different from most temblors that had rocked the Himalayan region.
It did not occur on the well-known thrust faults formed due to under-thrusting of the Indian plate below the Eurasian plate as in 95 per cent of the major earthquakes in the Himalayan region. Instead, it occurred between two transverse faults represented by Tista and Gangtok lineaments where two segments of Himalayas have moved in a horizontal direction.

Gangtok, Sept. 30: The Jawaharlal Nehru Marg has been restored for traffic, allowing the army and people from the half a dozen villages that dot the route to Nathu-la to come down here to replenish their supplies — more than 10 days after the earthquake cut off the road link.

Gangtok-Mangan Road Opens, Toll May Go Up As Recue Teams Enter Interiors
New Delhi: Two days after an earthquake hit Sikkim, the road connecting the worst-affected town of Mangan was reopened on Tuesday. And as relief and rescue teams started reaching the worst-affected interior areas of the state, the death toll is likely to mount.

“The road from Gangtok to Mangan is open. The number of deaths as reported by the Sikkim government is 50. This may increase further as rescue and relief teams reach the interiors,” Union home secretary R K Singh said on Tuesday.

A 2006 report by the National Information Centre of Earthquake Engineering (NICEE) at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur had concluded that there was consensus in the scientific world that Sikkim and its adjoining areas are likely to witness major earthquakes and that this, combined with the poor construction practices prevalent in the area, spells tremendous risk for the population.