Heavy Rains Trigger Landslides and Bridge Collapse in Darjeeling; Kolkata Waterlogged

PTI, June 19, 2026, Kolkata: Heavy overnight monsoon rains that continued till Friday afternoon disrupted life in large parts of north Bengal and left several areas of Kolkata and adjoining south Bengal districts inundated, triggering traffic snarls across key roads.

Torrential rainfall in neighbouring Bhutan and Sikkim also caused rivers in north Bengal, including the Teesta and Balason, a major tributary of the Mahananda, to flow close to danger levels, officials said.

Multiple landslides were reported from areas across the Darjeeling hills, cutting off connectivity between the north Bengal town of Siliguri and various parts of the hills through the NH 110 arterial road.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall, with extremely heavy showers likely in parts of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts over the next few days.

An orange alert was issued for Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Cooch Behar districts, forecasting heavy to very heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds.

An orange alert was also issued by the Met office for south Bengal districts of Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas, Purba Bardhaman, Purba and Paschim Medinipur districts for the next 48 hours.

Incessant rains led to the collapse of a temporary bridge over the swollen Balason river in Darjeeling, disrupting vehicular movement between Siliguri and the Mirik subdivision, officials said.

The hume pipe structure was constructed as an alternative arrangement following the collapse of the Dudhia iron bridge in October 2025.

"A portion of the temporary hume pipe bridge at Dudhia collapsed after a sudden rise in water level of the river due to torrential rain," an official said.

Vehicular movement has been diverted through alternative routes via Pankhabari and Kurseong, he added.

Roads in central and north Kolkata, as well as in the Sector V area of Salt Lake, were submerged after the morning downpour, leading to slow-moving traffic and congestion during office hours.

Busy thoroughfares like College Street, Amherst Street in the north and Camac Street in the central parts of the city remained waterlogged till long after the morning deluge had let up.

Officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said reports of waterlogging had been received from a number of areas, but described the situation as not severe.

"Pumping stations and other drainage measures have already been pressed into action, and civic personnel are on alert. Water is expected to recede once the rain stops," a KMC official said.