Siliguri: A pall of grief has descended on Paghalupara in Sahudangi, near Siliguri, after two children who were siblings lost their lives when the boundary wall of a neighbour’s house collapsed during heavy rain late Tuesday night.
The victims have been identified as Madhumita Mahanta (3 years) and Debayan Mahanta (one-and-a-half-year), children of Parimal and Rinki Mahanta. The family lived in a tin-roofed house.
According to locals, the incident occurred around 11 pm on Tuesday when torrential rain, which was lashing Siliguri and adjoining areas since morning, intensified. Water had entered another room of the house, prompting the parents to step out to clear it. At that moment, the rain-soaked boundary wall of the neighbouring house gave way and collapsed onto the children’s room, burying them under the rubble. Neighbours managed to pull the children and rushed them to Siliguri District Hospital where doctor on duty declared them brought dead. As the family refused a post-mortem, last rites were performed the same night.
The grieving parents alleged that the boundary wall was in a precarious condition for a long time and that the soil beneath it had weakened further due to the incessant rain.
Khageswar Roy, MLA of Rajganj, visited the family on Wednesday. “The family is supposed to get a house under housing for all projects. We will look into the matter and will try to help them as much as possible,” Roy added. In another incident, a 57-year-old man, Darshai Orao, a resident of the Chandmuni Tea Garden area, was washed away after falling into the Panchanoi River in between Ward 47 and Patharghata Gram Panchayat. The incident occurred on Wednesday. Sources said that he slipped and fell into the river. The water level of the river has risen due to heavy rains. The disaster management team has already launched rescue operations, but as of the time of reporting, no trace of the man had been found. Continuous heavy rainfall has caused severe waterlogging in several parts of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, including wards 5, 46, 15, 17, 27, 2, 35, 45, 47.
Water also entered several shops in Bidhan Market, damaging goods and prompting traders to blame the poor drainage system. Areas like Fulbari, Fakdaibari, Ambikanagar, Shiv Mandir were also submerged.
Meteorologist Gopi Nath Raha informed that heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected on August 13 to 14 for which orange warning has been issued and yellow warning has been issued on August 15, 18 and 19 in Darjeeling district. Rain with thunderstorms may continue until August 20 morning. In Siliguri, 114.00 mm of rainfall has been recorded in the past 24 hours, while the Darjeeling hills have received 16.8 mm. The water level of the Mahananda River has risen to 113.400 metres.