Rescue operation underway after a bridge collapses in the landslides hit area following heavy rainfall, in Darjeeling.
Credit: PTI Photo
Kolkata: At least 20 people, including several children, were killed as thunderstorms and torrential rain wreaked havoc in the Darjeeling and Mirik hills of West Bengal overnight, even as water gushed in from neighbouring Bhutan and Sikkim, and the overflowing Sankosh, Teesta, Torsa and other rivers flooded vast areas in the northern region of the state on Sunday.
Thousands of people in the North Bengal districts have been displaced by the deluge. Hundreds of tourists from the rest of West Bengal and other states, as well as from abroad, got stranded in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik, as landslides in at least seven locations disrupted transport between the hill stations and Siliguri in the foothills of the Himalayas. Thimphu has warned Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government in Kolkata that a dam on the overflowing Wang Chhu river in Bhutan might collapse anytime and worsen the flood in Dooars in West Bengal.
Mamata said that North Bengal received more than 300 mm of rainfall in just 12 hours. Besides, she added, the excessive flow of water from Bhutan and Sikkim into the rivers contributed to the disasters.
The India Meteorological Department forecast continued downpour in the North Bengal districts, at least till Monday. The IMD issued a red alert for the Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts and an orange alert for the Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Kalimpong districts.
Mamata said in Kolkata that two iron bridges had collapsed, several roads had been damaged and flooded, and huge tracts of land in the districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, and Alipurduar had been inundated. “There have been reports of worrying damages and losses, particularly in Mirik, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Matigara and Alipurduar.”
She announced that a member of the family of each deceased would get a government job, in addition to compensation.
The overflowing rivers inundated stretches of national and state highways in several places, disrupting surface transport. Several trains have been cancelled or delayed, or diverted, with the railway tracks being submerged by floodwater.
Mirik in the Darjeeling district of the state was the worst affected, with at least 11 people being killed in the sub-division due to landslides. An iron bridge over the Balason river at Dudhia collapsed, snapping the connectivity between Mirik and Siliguri. Gautam Deb, a leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress and the mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, said that the state government’s Public Works Department was constructing a temporary bridge to restore connectivity. A major landslide on the Mirik-Sukhiapokhri road was also reported.
“A large number of homes have been damaged, some completely and some partially, along the Dudhey, Panighatta, Pankhabari belt,” Raju Bista, a Bharatiya Janata Party’s member in the Lok Sabha, said. Bista, who is visiting the affected areas, wrote to the chief minister, urging her to inform the Centre about the extensive losses suffered by North Bengal so that additional resources could be mobilised for the affected regions.
At least seven people were killed in Darjeeling. The death toll may go beyond 20 when reports from all places will come in, an official of the state government said.
“The rescue operations are currently continuing, and normalcy is slowly returning. Some of the affected routes have been reopened,” Rajesh Kumar Yadav, the police chief of North Bengal, said.
Rajarshi Sen, an IT professional, went from Kolkata to Kalimpong to spend the Durga Puja vacation along with his wife and son. “We were staying in a homestay. The lightning and the incessant heavy shower throughout the night were very scary. Though we would have stayed a few more days, we did not want to take a risk, managed a local cab and left early in the morning, and, after several detours, somehow reached Siliguri around 8 pm,” he said over the phone.
Abhishek Roy, Additional Superintendent of Police (Kurseong), said that efforts were on to rescue all the stranded tourists from Mirik through Tindharia, the only route operational at present.
The chief minister had virtual meetings with the officials overseeing the relief and rescue efforts in the affected districts. She and Chief Secretary Manoj Pant monitored the situation from the control room of ‘Nabanna’ – the state secretariat in Howrah, adjacent to Kolkata.
“I convey my heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased and shall send all assistance to the families immediately,” said the chief minister, who would leave Kolkata early on Monday to visit the affected areas in the northern districts of the state.
The National Disaster Response Force deployed three teams for rescue operations in Mirik. Two more teams are being moved, Mohsen Shahedi, the DIG of the NDRF, said. The Indian Army also deployed soldiers to help the state administration in relief and rescue operations.
The disaster hit North Bengal just a few days after Kolkata was deluged due to an overnight downpour on September 22 and 23, with at least 12 people being killed, mostly due to electrocution by live-wire lying under water that submerged the streets.