Life remains remains disrupted in Hills, foothills; rains stop on 4th day

EOI, Alipurduar/Siliguri, 14 Oct 2016: Normal life remained disrupted in Darjeeling hills and its foothills following heavy rains since last Tuesday which caused landslides at some places, snapping direct road link between Siliguri, Mirik and Dooars and damaging stretches along NH-10.

However, as rains stopped on the fourth day and the sun shone faintly this morning, the administration was hopeful that the situation will not worsen further. Senior officials of Alipurduar and Darjeeling Hills district said with boulders still blocking the road at Kalijhora and Raktikhola, vehicles were being diverted through Panighata via Hillcart Road even though some parts of the road was in bad shape. Similarly, as Garubathan remained cut off due to rains, hundreds of visitors in the picturesque sanctuary area remained indoors, the officials said.

From Jayanti bazar to Kukripahar, the road was damaged due to landslide as the tourists and local people remained stranded in Jayanti area, not far from Bhutan, a district official said. Malbazar town, where basic amenities were available, also remained cut off due to the rains. The road on way to Peiling in Sikkim remained cut off due to landslides at Namchi and Rangpo but the Lava-Lolegaon route in Darjeeling was still working, though only for cars and the small vehicles took long detour through the second route, the officials said.

"There have been boulders along at least four points of NH 10, which links Siliguri to Sikkim but personnel of Border Roads Organisation, SSB, State Disaster Management Force and Army were working in tandem at all points to restore the areas and if there were no more rains later in the day, the situation may improve," an official of Darjeeling Hills district said. Seven domestic flights to Kolkata and elsewhere were also cancelled from Bagdogra in the past four days due to inclement weather, Bagdogra airport sources said.

Thousands of tourists were stuck in different parts of Darjeeling, Siliguri and Dooars as a result but there was no report of any injury or casualty and the authorities were in touch with hotels and lodges about their condition, the Darjeeling district official said. The state government made available a helpline no (0354 2255749) for any assistance for the relatives, the tourists and others.