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TT, 14 July 2019, Siliguri: The monsoon downpour continued in most parts of sub-Himalayan north Bengal for the fifth day on Saturday.

The highest rainfall was recorded in Cooch Behar where it rained 197.4mm in the past 24 hours (till 8.30am on Saturday), followed by Jalpaiguri (154.6mm), Siliguri (91mm) and Darjeeling (62.9mm).

The incessant downpour left most of the areas of Cooch Behar town waterlogged and also triggered fresh landslides in two locations in the Darjeeling hills.

At Swetijhora, located on NH10 near Sevoke, where a landslide had snapped vehicular movement along the route that connects Kalimpong and Sikkim with Siliguri on Thursday, fresh debris started descending from the hills on the road on Saturday morning, and again halted traffic.

It was on late on Friday evening that the debris had been cleared and traffic movement had started along the route in a single file. The administration again engaged excavators into service and the road was reopened later in the afternoon.

A portion of the same highway (NH10) caved in at 29th Mile, located beyond Swetijhora near Teesta Bazaar. Also, a fresh landslide occurred between Lava and Gorubathan that serves as an alternative route to Kalimpong.

"We have reports of a number of minor landslides in different locations of Sikkim. Men and machines have been engaged in concerned areas to clear the roads," said a source in Gangtok.

In Cooch Behar, the Cooch Behar-Dinhata Road got submerged in water and so are prominent streets like Sunity Road. Waterlogging was reported at least eight wards, including the local bus stand at Kutcheri More.

The Torsha river that skirts the town also swelled due to rains in Cooch Behar and in the upstream in Bhutan. It has drowned a number of hutments in lowlying areas of the banks and families have been shifted to safer places, said administrative sources. "The river is also eroding chunks of land every minute. We have asked people to stay safe and are keeping a watch on the situation," said an official.

In Siliguri sub-division, the rainfall has affected a number of tea gardens in the Dooars. Sanjoy Bagchi, secretary of the Terai branch of the Indian Tea Association, said tea gardens like New Chumta, Atal, Fulbari, Merryview and Nuxalbari have been waterlogged.

"We are worried over the situation as in some gardens local streams have washed away plantations. Roads in- side the gardens have been damaged and so are some workers' quarters. It is a tough situation in the Terai and we are waiting for the rains to stop," said Bagchi.

With the rainfall affecting both the hills and the plains, Raju Bista, the BJP MP of Darjeeling, said on Saturday that he had written to the Prime Minister to update him about the situation.

"I have requested him to provide additional relief personnel and instruct the Border Roads Organisation and other central agencies operating in the region to provide additional men to as- sist the administration for clearing the roads and for relief and rescue works," said a press release issued by the MP.

Bista has also mentioned that his office was in constant touch with the district magistrates of Darjeeling and Kalimpong..