The Meteorological Department has issued a ‘red’ alert for Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Alipurduar, predicting “extremely heavy rain at one or two places” in these districts till Thursday morning.
Torrential rains affected the Himalayan state of Sikkim and the tea-growing region of North Bengal, causing landslides that cut off National Highway-10, the main road connecting Gangtok with the rest of the country.
Normal life was also affected in some parts of tea-growing north Bengal on Wednesday due to torrential rains in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri districts, officials said.
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Officials said hundreds of tourists visiting the hills during the Durga Puja season are facing difficulty in traveling to their next destination or reaching the railway stations or Bagdogra airport due to incessant rains and landslides.
Incessant rains on Wednesday caused landslides in the 29th Mile area of West Bengal, about 60 km from the Rangpo border of the Himalayan state, blocking the vital National Highway-10, which is used for both civilian and military traffic.
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Another landslide occurred at Pani House here this morning, disrupting vehicular movement, officials said.
Efforts were on to clear debris from the road to at least partially reopen it.
Supporting pillars of a steel bridge at Rangpo, the gateway to Sikkim, were also damaged as the mighty Teesta river, which has been in spate for the past few days, washed away embankments at several points.
The local police have started restricting the movement of vehicles on the bridge. In view of the incessant rains in the state, a large number of people have been shifted to safer places and relief material has been sent to the affected areas.
A landslide occurred in the Mahanadi area of Darjeeling district of West Bengal, blocking another major road connecting Kurseong with Sukna.
As the rains continued, 3,800 cusecs of water was released from the Gajoldoba Teesta barrage in Bengal, flooding many parts of the lower town of Jalpaiguri.
The rising waters of Teesta also submerged National Highway 10, which connects Siliguri with Sikkim’s capital Gangtok in the Teesta Bazar area, disrupting traffic, officials said.
The Meteorological Department has issued a ‘red’ alert for Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Alipurduar, with the possibility of ‘extremely heavy rain at one or two places’ in these districts till Thursday morning.
During this time, heavy to very heavy rains are likely in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar.
Officials said road connectivity at several places in Kalimpong district, connecting the city of Kalimpong with several settlements like Pedong, Lava and Algara, was broken due to landslides.
A bridge over Balasan river at Matigara on the outskirts of Siliguri in Darjeeling district was also damaged.
Siliguri Police Commissioner Gaurav Sharma said vehicles have been diverted to another route due to the damage to the bridge, while motorcyclists and pedestrians have been allowed to use it.
“We are urging people to plan long journeys to reach their destinations,” he told reporters.
Darjeeling received 233.8 mm of rain, the highest in the state in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Wednesday, followed by Kalimpong (199 mm), Jalpaiguri (151 mm) and Cooch Behar (60.9 mm).
Due to the torrential rains, the water level in the Torsa and some other rivers of the region has also started rising.
The Meteorological Department said that the inclement weather conditions would continue in the sub-Himalayan districts till Thursday morning.
The southern districts of West Bengal, which had received heavy rains since October 17 due to a low pressure system, improved significantly on Wednesday, though the Met department said that one or two places of thunderstorms are likely to occur during the day.
Dry weather will continue over the southern parts of the state from Thursday.
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