Continuous heavy showers cause landslides in northern Bengal

Highlights

Landslides have been reported from a number of places in the hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong in northern Bengal, following heavy showers in the entire zone since last night.

Kolkata: Landslides have been reported from a number of places in the hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong in northern Bengal, following heavy showers in the entire zone since last night.

the state government sources said that following the landslides, several pockets around National High 10 had been cut off from the mainland. The water level at Teesta river has almost reached the danger mark and is rising following constant rains.

Those residing on the banks of river Teesta have already been alerted by the local administration. The situation has been reported to be quite critical following massive waterlogging in the plains of Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts.

“A number of houses have been damaged at Mirik, Ghoom, and Sukhia Pokhari area in Darjeeling district because of the landslide. The residents of these houses have been relocated to safe places. We are trying our best to remove the debris from the National Highways as early as possible so that traffic movement can start there,” said a district administration official.

As per the prediction, rainfall is expected to continue till Saturday, especially in the districts of north Bengal.

However, the situation as on Friday afternoon is slightly better than in north Bengal. Although there had been some rainfall in certain districts in southern Bengal, it did not affect normal life in those districts to that extent.

Water levels in the flooded areas in south Bengal districts like Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and West Midnapore have also started declining.

With no prediction of heavy showers in the coming two days in south Bengal the situation is expected to normalise in this zone soon.

Recently, the rift between the state government and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) over the flood situation reached its peak with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announcing to withdraw the state government’s representation in the Damodar Valley River Regulation Committee (DVRRC).

The state government has accused DVC of releasing huge quantities of flood water at one go and that too without informing the state government. The DVC authorities and the Union government have, however, refuted the allegations.