Weather office predicts heavy downpour in Hills

MP | 6 August 2020 | Darjeeling: Enhanced rainfall activity has been forecasted in North Bengal and Sikkim from August 8. There is already an amber warning in place for all the districts of North Bengal till August 10. 

"Thunderstorm accompanied by lightening, gusty wind and light to moderate rain will continue for the next four days. From August 8 onwards rainfall activity will be enhanced. There might be very heavy rainfall during that period. Day temperatures will fall" stated Dr. Gopi Nath Raha, head of IMD, Gangtok. 

Darjeeling Hills and Kalimpong have been witnessing heavy rainfall, lightening and gusty winds since Tuesday night. Trees were uprooted in many places disrupting electricity throughout the Hills since Wednesday morning. Inclement weather hampered restoration work by the WBDCL. 

"With the weather improving and continued efforts of the WBSEDCL, electricity was restored to most parts of the Hills by Thursday noon" stated S Poonambalam, District Magistrate, Darjeeling. 

Allahrakha, a 12-year-old was washed away by the swelling waters of a jhora at Chandragodam in Chotabhalukhop area on the fringes of Kalimpong town at around 5pm on Wednesday. Search operations continued but could not trace him. "SDRF and Civil Defence teams have been continuously searching for him. 

However the kid has not been recovered yet" stated R Vimala, DM, Kalimpong. A 10 meter stretch on the road to Dungra gram panchayat around 3km away from Kalimpong town was washed away cutting off 70 families. 

A part of the road to Algarah in Kalimpong near Jhilkeydhara sunk owing to heavy rainfall. Sikkim has been badly affected with the continued rains. Constructions on the banks of River Rangeet, which is in spate, suffered the most. 

Elderly people residing at Legship on the banks of Rangeet stated that they are seeing the river in spate for the first time after the 1968 disaster. Large areas under IPCA pharma located on the banks of the river at Mazitar was washed away. 

The Kirateshwar Mahadev temple suffered extensive damage. The road to DANs power plant, 16 km from Melli was also washed away by the river. 

Kalimpong received 106mm of rainfall; Darjeeling 99.4 mm, Kurseong 13 mm, Siliguri 9 mm and Gangtok 59.2 mm in the past 24 hours as recorded on August 6 morning. 

(Courtesy & source- Millenium Post - http://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/weather-office-predicts-heavy-downpour-in-hills-414883)