RIVERS RISE Fresh rain triggers floods in north

TT, 23 July 2019, Siliguri: A fresh bout of rain led to water-logging in different areas of Alipurduar and Cooch Behar towns on Monday.

The downpour -- it rained around 270mm in Alipurduar and around 177mm in Cooch Behar in 24 hours till 8.30am on Monday -- led to huge inconveniences for thousands of people on the first working day of the week as they had to trudge through water to reach their workplaces.

The rainfall also led to rise in water levels of a number of streams and rivers, which eroded and flooded tea plantations in the Dooars.

The rain also led to breach in embankments in Jalpaiguri and Malda, and caused flash floods in some localities.

In Alipurduar, it started raining since 11.30 on Sunday and continued till 8am on Monday. As a result, at least eight wards of the town, and localities like Pramodnagar, Dwipchar and Palashbari got waterlogged due to accumulated rain water.

"The town has experienced an extremely heavy rainfall in past 24 hours and we have face inconveniences as sluice gates leading to the Kaljani river (that skirts the town) were locked. The water level at the river was low and there was no chance of any back flow yet, as the gates were close, it took time for the water to recede," said a resident. The torrential rain also af- fected tea gardens like Majherdabri, Nangdala, Torsha and Mechpara. A large number of tea bushes were washed away by the river while in some stretches the plantations went under water, which affected plucking of tealeaves.

Similar was the scene in Cooch Behar where the rainwater led to water logging in a number of localities and even in prominent roads of the town.

"There is a forecast of more rainfall across north Bengal during the next two-three days. The monsoon is again active over the region," said a weather expert.

In Jalpaiguri, the embankment of one of the canals of Teesta Barrage Project at Das- para village under Belakoba panchayat of the Sadar block was breached by the swelled water. It flooded the adjoining farmland and small tea plantations.

"We have time and again demanded that the canal should be repaired. The embankment on its side could not bear the water pressure and a stretch of around 40 metres was washed away in rain and flood. I have lost paddy in around three bighas of land," said Benu Dutta, a resident.

In Malda, a sizable portion of the crucial Mahananda embankment that protects villages in three gram panchayats spread over two administrative blocks in northern part of the district, has collapsed on Sunday night..