Slides follow showers in hills

Heavy rainfall on Tuesday night has caused landslides on NH55 and in Kalimpong

The NH55 has been blocked to Siliguri-Darjeeling cars since 2010 after landslides, but today movement of local traffic was also stopped after the slide at Mahanadi, 42km from Siliguri. (Picture above)

"Heavy rain last night caused 120 metres of the road in Mahanadi to sink. The location of the current landslide is just ahead of the stretch at Paglajhora that was damaged in landslide in June 2010.... A team from the state PWD will visit the area for inspection in order to make an assessment," said Ajay Singh, the executive engineer of state PWD (NH division IX).

A 35-metre-stretch on Lower Rishi Road that links Kalimpong town to NH10 also caved in on Wednesday morning following heavy overnight rain. Vehicles bound for Siliguri and those coming up to Kalimpong had to take a detour to reach their destinations because of the subsidence at 6th Mile (picture on top). The road was restored for one-way traffic around 11am after the public works department cut the hill adjoining the damaged stretch to facilitate the movement of vehicles.

Teesta Barrage Project authorities have started releasing water at Gazoldoba, 25km from here, since Wednesday morning. According to project sources, 1260.68 cubic metres of water per second has been released from Gazoldoba through 14 sluice gates to balance the rise in water level.

A flood-like situation has developed on both banks of the Teesta downstream, prompting the North Bengal Flood Control Commission (NBFCC) to issue a yellow or primary alert for unprotected areas on both banks.

Reporting by our bureau, picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha