Jalpaiguri: Intense administrative activity gripped Nagrakata’s Bamondanga-Tondu tea garden area on Sunday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is expected to visit the flood-ravaged zone on Monday morning. The region witnessed one of the worst tragedies of the recent deluge, which claimed 11 lives in the Model Village, Goth Line, and Beech Line areas.
Despite improvements in the post-flood situation, Bamondanga-Tondu continues to reel under hardship. Model village, home to 571 families, still remains without electricity. Most residents, displaced by the October 4 flood, are living in temporary relief camps set up inside the tea garden factory premises. Livestock and sources of livelihood were washed away, and thick layers of silt have rendered farmlands unusable. Temporary tents have been arranged to shelter residents of Model Village, while medical camps, police assistance units, and help desks have been set up across the affected areas. Jalpaiguri District Magistrate Shama Parveen and senior officials have been camping at the site, monitoring arrangements and coordinating rehabilitation measures.
“Separate relief camps have been arranged for residents of Model Village and Bamondanga. All necessary preparations are in place ahead of the Chief Minister’s visit,” said Robin Singh Jha, Member-in-Charge (PWD) of the Nagrakata Panchayat Samiti.
District Magistrate Shama Parveen confirmed that one person from the Bamondanga-Tondu area is still missing. “Search operations are ongoing. The administration is fully prepared for the Chief Minister’s visit,” she said.
The Bamondanga tea estate and adjoining Tondu region in Jalpaiguri district’s Nagrakata block were devastated when the swelling Gathia river burst its banks last weekend. Continuous overnight rainfall on Saturday caused flash floods that destroyed homes and swept away belongings. Over 6,000 houses in the Bamondanga-Tondu belt have been damaged.
Earlier, the Chief Minister toured several flood and landslide-affected areas across North Bengal, including Nagrakata, where she met victims’ families and reviewed the damage to critical infrastructure such as bridges and roads. She is revisiting to review relief and rehabilitation work.