Kranti & Mal blocks: Relief distribution commences as floodwaters recede

Jalpaiguri/ Darjeeling: As flood waters began to recede in Jalpaiguri’s Kranti and Mal blocks on Wednesday, authorities initiated relief distribution to the affected families. Nearly 500 homes were submerged on Tuesday due to continuous rainfall in Sikkim and heavy water discharge from the Teesta Barrage.

Relief efforts gained momentum with Siliguri Mayor Gautam Deb visiting affected areas, including Pandit Para, Basusuba and Master’s Para in Chapadanga, Sahebbari and Paschim Dalaigaon under Changmari Gram Panchayat and Apalchad and Totgaon in Bagrakot Panchayat. Deb distributed dry food, drinking water and essential supplies to the displaced residents.

“The Chief Minister instructed me to assess the ground reality and ensure immediate relief reaches the people,” said Deb. “This area did not experience such flooding before 2023 but now even moderate rainfall combined with barrage discharge is leading to inundation.

I will report these issues directly to the CM.” Incidentally on October 4, 2023, a flash flood in the River Teesta had caused extensive damage to these downstream areas.

Local residents described how water levels had risen quickly on Tuesday morning, reaching knee-deep in several localities before gradually receding by evening. “We were worried when water entered our homes early in the day, but it started going down by night,” said Bhavesh Barman of Basusuba. Khairul Alam of Changmari expressed concern over future flooding: “The river remains swollen.

We fear more rain upstream, but the administration acted swiftly this time.”

Officials said the situation improved after discharge from the Teesta Barrage and the Teesta-Mahananda Link Canal was reduced. Mahua Gope, Public Health Karmadakshya of Jalpaiguri Zilla Parishad, confirmed that farmland across multiple bighas had been damaged. “Standing crops like paddy, brinjal, okra and snake gourd have gone underwater. The BDO is preparing a detailed assessment,” she said.

While the India Meteorological Department recorded 13.2 mm of rainfall in Jalpaiguri town over the past 24 hours, the Jaldhaka River in Nagrakata suddenly swelled Wednesday evening, owing to heavy rainfall in the Bhutan hills.

Meanwhile in the Hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, rainfall continued throughout Wednesday. Though the National Highway 10, the link road to Sikkim was a witness to a number of landslides in all the vulnerable areas including Tarkhola, Likhuveer and Gardei Jhora, the debris and rocks were removed, working on a war footing. Vehicular traffic was interrupted for short intervals owing to the slides. The Kalimpong to Darjeeling route via Teesta Bazar which was closed for some hours on Tuesday owing to the stretch at Ravijhora being inundated with rise in water levels of river Teesta, remained open on Wednesday. Kalimpong recorded 125mm of rain in 5 hours on Wednesday.

In another development, an earthquake of 4.3 magnitude occurred at 6:58 am on Wednesday in Sikkim. The epicenter of the quake was 122 km North North West of Yuksom, Sikkim. The depth of the quake was 10km as per the Indian Meteorological Department. However, no loss of life or property was reported.