Gusty winds, torrential rain throw life out of gear in the Hills

Darjeeling: Incessant rains in Darjeeling and Kalimpong since Tuesday night has thrown life out of gear. The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a "Yellow warning" from Thursday.

Heavy rains have been accompanied by strong gushes of wind. Trees have been uprooted in many places, blocking the roads while landslides have also been reported.

The National Highway 10 to Sikkim was blocked for the larger part of the day owing to a landslide near the 29th Mile. Earth movers were pressed into service and at around 10 am, the road was open to vehicular traffic (one way.) However, at many places along the NH-10 especially at Kalijhora, there were reports of rocks and stones sliding down the road.

In Darjeeling town, there were reports of trees being uprooted at many places owing to the gusty winds. At the Darjeeling Railway station, an uprooted tree blocked the National Highway 55 to Siliguri for more than half-an-hour. Manish Gazmer, a resident of Rajbari, Darjeeling, was injured in the incident and has been admitted to the Darjeeling Sadar Hospital.

Trees were uprooted at Navin Gram, Municipal Ward number 11, Darjeeling. Darjeeling Chowrasta was badly affected by uprooted trees and broken branches. The hawkers' market below the Mahakal Temple remained closed. Workers from the Darjeeling Municipality later cleared the road.

An uprooted tree smashed the house of one Gautam Lama in Gandhi Road, Darjeeling. An 88-year-old man was in the house when the incident took place but he managed to escape unhurt.

Rainfall recorded in the last 24 hours (till 8:30 am on Wednesday) was 109.2 mm in Kalimpong; 87.8 mm in Kurseong; 57.6 mm in Darjeeling and 34.4 mm in Gangtok.

In Tung, 8 km away from Kurseong, a two-storeyed dilapidated old wooden house collapsed owing to high winds. No one used to reside in the house.