Siliguri: “I clung onto a tree to save my life and kept my children on the tin roof of my house. The fierce Teesta showed no mercy and washed away my three children. I could see my children drift away in the torrential water till I could see no more. Later, the body of my son was recovered while my two daughters are still missing. I was up the whole night perched on the tree till a kind driver saved me by throwing me a rope,” stated Mohammad Muktar, narrating the horrific tale of his life hitting a dead end suddenly without any warning.
Most returning from Sikkim have such grim tales to narrate. Md. Muktar, a resident of Maharaja Colony of Ward 4 of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC), burst into tears after arriving in Siliguri from Rangpo Sikkim. Muktar, who is from Bihar, was staying in Rangpo for the past five years working in a shop dealing in scrap iron. He had two daughters and two sons.
Just two days before the cloudburst, his wife had gone to Begusarai in Bihar with their 2-year-old son and he was at Rangpo with two daughters and his 13-year-old son.
Meanwhile, Niraj Singh, who came from Rangpo, does not want to return to Sikkim again after having faced the ordeal. He is a resident of Rajasthan.“We were sleeping at night and suddenly we found water all over our house. Somehow, me, my wife and two children ran out of the house. Our house has been totally damaged and we have lost everything. We are lucky to be alive. We are going to Rajasthan and have planned not to return to Sikkim,” Niraj said.
Bipul Rai said: “We don’t even have clothes to wear. We came to Siliguri to buy clothes and essential goods.”
Stranded tourists along with locals have started trickling back to Siliguri with alternative routes having opened up on Friday. National Highway 10 is totally damaged.
The alternative route for light vehicles for Rangpoo in Sikkim to Siliguri is via Munsong-17 Mile-Algarah-Lava -Gorubathan and to Siliguri and vice versa round-the-clock. The other route is from Melli Bridge-Chitrey-Kalimpong town-Algarah-Lava-Gorubathan and to Siliguri and vice versa round-the-clock.
Heavy or goods vehicles are moving from Reshi-Pedong-Algarah-Lava-Gorubathan and to Siliguri. As an alternate route, heavy or goods vehicles will move from Melli Bridge-Chitrey-Kalimpong town Algarah-Lava-Gorubathan and to Siliguri and vice versa.
Abhishek Bhattacharya, from Kolkata, who returned to Siliguri from Sikkim said: “We were stranded in Sikkim. We had to pay a huge amount to return to Siliguri. It took us about 8 hours to reach New Jalpaiguri Railway Station.”