Heavy rain throws life out of gear in Siliguri

darjeeling: Heavy rains disrupted normal life in Siliguri. Many areas of the town faced waterlogging issues.

The weather office has warned of heavy rains in the next 72 hours. The town witnessed 172 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours recorded at 8am on Wednesday.

The town witnessed very heavy rainfall from 7pm till 11 pm on Tuesday evening. Areas including Hakimpara, Collegepara, Hospital Mor, Bidhan Road, Ashoknagar, Ganganagar faced severe water logging. Traffic was disrupted owing to this.

Water entered houses and shops. "We have incurred huge losses. Goods were damaged with water entering the shops. Initial survey has revealed a loss of around Rs. 50 lakhs" stated Bapi Saha, President, Bidhan Market Byabsahi Samity.

The wall of a market complex located on Hill Cart road collapsed owing to the heavy rain.

Though there was no report to loss of life, three motorbikes were damaged. Later local residents cleared the debris from the collapsed walls.

"We have been working round the clock keeping tab of the situation and restoring normality. It has just been 6 months since we have formed the Board. We have closely monitored the situation and have drawn up a plan on how to tackle this issue of water logging. We hope to resolve the problem by 2023" stated Gautam Deb, Mayor, Siliguri Municipal Corporation.

He stated that many roads have been damaged. "We will complete repair of all these roads before Pujas," added Deb.