Incessant rains trigger landslides in Hills of Darj & Kalimpong

Darjeeling: Heavy rains in Darjeeling and Kalimpong have triggered several landslides in the Hills.

A landslide occurred at Birikdanra on the National Highway 10 connecting Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim to the plains of Siliguri. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a Yellow rainfall warning for June 23 and 24 for all 8 districts of North Bengal.

Incessant rainfall throughout the night left a stretch of National Highway 10 damaged.

“A landslide has occurred on a 90-m stretch on the NH10 at Birikdanra. If the rains continue then the entire road could be washed away thereby cutting off Gangtok. We have kept earth movers on standby to tackle any eventuality,” stated a National Highway authority.

“A single lane is open to traffic at Birikdanra. This has however increased traffic time,” stated Aparajita Rai, Superintendent of Police, Kalimpong.

Heavy rains have also triggered landslides in the Darjeeling district. About 18 houses have been partially damaged in the Mirik block with landslides in Chota Tingling, Soureni Busty, Palangbari, Naya Kaman, Bahadurgaon, Nandlal Gaon and Duptin Bhasmey.

“Road between Chota Tingling and Khoprail under Soureni II Gram Panchayat is blocked owing to a landslide. Clearance work is on” stated an official of the District Disaster Management department. 3 houses were partly damaged in the Nayakaman, Chaiteypani and Makaibari areas of the Kurseong Block.

Landslides also occurred in the Darjeeling Municipality area. Landslides occurred in Wards 2, 3, 4 and 29 under the Darjeeling Municipality.

“The disaster management team of the Darjeeling Municipality is keeping a close watch on the situation. Tarpaulin sheets are being distributed in coordination with area councillors,” stated Dipen Thakuri, Chairman of Darjeeling Municipality.

“The IMD has issued a yellow rainfall warning for the next two days for Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur. From Monday the intensity of the rains could lessen,” stated Dr Gopinath Raha, in charge of IMD, Gangtok.

Rainfall recorded in Darjeeling in the last 24 hours (at 8 am on 23 June) was 39.2 mm; Kalimpong 005.6 mm; Bagrakote 098.8 mm; Jalpaiguri 096.0 mm; Alipurduar 010.2 mm and Siliguri 090.4 mm.