Landslips block Sikkim, hill roads

Travellers walk through slush in Sevoke, one of the landslide spots around 20km from Siliguri, on Saturday. (Passang Yolmo)

Darjeeling/Gangtok/Malda: Direct road links from Siliguri to Gangtok and Kalimpong snapped on Saturday after over a dozen landslides triggered by incessant rain.

In Malda, swollen rivers caused flash floods that inundated three blocks in the district. Subash Rai, 48, a resident of Khuttimari in Dhupguri block of Jalpaiguri, was swept away by the Gilanbi river and was yet to be rescued till Saturday evening.

In the hills, the landslides occurred on NH10 and NH31. Before the debris could be cleared in some places, fresh landslips between Coronation Bridge and Sevoke Bazar on NH31 shut down the link to the hill stations.

"Landslips have also taken place at Kalijhora, Sethi jhora and 29th Mile since Friday morning. Authorities managed to clear the debris for one-way traffic till the Coronation Bridge," said one passenger. The bridge is about 20km from Siliguri.

The traveller said at 29th Mile, traffic came to a halt for almost three hours on Saturday afternoon. "This happened because a truck broke down on the highway. The snarl was compounded by indiscipline among drivers who created a double lane in their hurry to cover the landslide-hit stretch along NH10," said the passenger.

Vehicles were stuck at the Coronation Bridge because of multiple landslips between that point and Sevoke Bazaar. "People are walking through mud slush of almost 10 feet to reach the other side," said the passenger who had to do the same.

Joyoshi Dasgupta, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, said the authorities were "trying their best to clear the debris as early as possible". "Rain is playing spoilsport," Dasgupta added.

The India Meteorological Department indicated some relief for the rain-ravaged areas, saying the showers could wane over the next few days. "As the axis of monsoon trough shifts to its normal position towards the south, the enhanced rainfall activity over north Bengal (is) very likely to decrease," the department said in a special bulletin.

Malda woes

Rains in the past few days have swelled the Ganga and the Fulhar rivers in Malda, pushing them over the danger levels.

The waters have breached embankments in many places and entered villages in the Kaliachak, Ratua-1 and Harischandrapur blocks, affecting over 50,000 people. The district authorities said they had shifted hundreds to higher places.

"Repairs of the embankments have started on a war-footing. We have arranged for generators so that the work can continue round the clock," Malda district magistrate Kaushik Bhattacharya said.