38 killed in WB landslides

As many as 38 people were reported to have died in massive landslides at the Darjeeling hills in West Bengal due to heavy rainfall.

Most deaths were reported from Sukhiapokhri, Mirik and Kalimpong since early Wednesday morning. With almost all roads in the area rendered ineffective and all civilian traffic put on hold, hundreds of tourists were stranded in different parts of the hill district. Even as information remains sketchy due to a near breakdown in mobile network, senior officials said incessant rain since Tuesday night triggered landslides across the hills.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force and the National Disaster Management Agency were working at these sites, along with state disaster teams, officials said.

Though the administration in the evening said 20 people have died, a PTI report placed the toll at 38. There were reports of 12 dead and seven missing at Sukhiapokhri, four in Mirik town and 12 more at Kalimpong, with reports of 15 people missing at 8 Mile and 11 Mile areas of Kalimpong.  

These sites are around 35 km, 25 km and 20 km from Darjeeling. “Till late afternoon seven bodies were recovered from Mirik, five from Kalimpong and one from Mirik, where 10 persons are still missing,” Darjeeling District Magistrate Anurag Srivastava told reporters.

He added that road link to Kalimpong, Lava, Lolegaon and Garubathan has been snapped, besides severe damages to NH 55 connecting Siliguri to Darjeeling, particularly at Mirik and Rohini.

Border Roads Organisation’s chief engineer S.S. Porwal, who is leading the operation to reconnect the strategic NH-10 that connects Sikkim to rest of India, has been hit by further landslides. “Things are really very bad,” he said.

Roads cut off

According to officials, while the Darjeeling-Sikkim road was cut off on Monday due to landslides, heavy rain since Tuesday night disconnected NH-10, leaving Darjeeling virtually inaccessible.

“The state administration has swung into action. Continuous rains are stalling rescue operations,” said Binay Tamang of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, the autonomous hill council that governs the Darjeeling hills.

Further worsening the situation, red alert has been issued following flood-like situation at Jalpaiguri district in the plains after river Teesta overflowed due to relentless rains in last two days.

“The water at Teesta barrage is rising alarmingly and the administration has started evacuation process in areas adjoining the river. Our priority is to rescue people and provide them with medical aid,” said North Bengal Development Minister Gautam Deb.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is expected to visit North Bengal to supervise rescue operations.