Darjeeling town hit by landslides following heavy rains

EOI, DARJEELING, JULY 5, 2024 :  Incessant rainfall caused mudslides and landslides at various places in Darjeeling on Friday. As it rained heavily in Darjeeling at around noon, a large mudslide damaged two vehicles parked on the roadside on Lebong Cart road above Loreto Convent School. The two Maruti Eco cars were covered by the huge mudslide that occurred from above the roadside. There were no reports of casualty.

The road was cleared for traffic movement after two hours with help of the civil defence volunteers, local residents, the police and the Fire Brigade. A similar landslide also took place at Hill Cart road near the Darjeeling railway station. 

The Darjeeling Municipality urged citizens to be extra vigilant during the ongoing monsoon season and report any incidents to the civic body. "There were landslides in two places in the municipality area today. Our team helped in the clearing process along with providing tarpaulins to cover the affected area. These are natural calamities and one cannot say where it will take place.

However we have conducted a survey where such incidents can occur; with us asking the people there to stay vigil," said Municipality Chairman Dipen Thakuri. The civic body has issued helpline numbers9434121738, 8942001049 and9733719979 for residents to contact and report incidents.

To stop water from overflowing on the streets, the Municipality during the day started a drive to remove encroachments on public drains. 

Following the heavy rainfall, waste water is flowing on to the streets because of the clogged drains caused by construction of illegal structures; posing a possible dangerous situation.
To address the issue, the local civic body started a drive to remove encroachments, which are primarily slabs and steps on top of the public drains, constructed by hotels in Cooch Behar Road in the upper fringe of the town. 

Municipal Councillor Nitesh Gurung said: "We had served notices to these hotels a week ago. asking them to remove the encroachments in the drains.

With water not being able to flow from the drains it was overflowing on the roads. They did not remove the encroachments so we removed it today." Gurung also said that the Municipality had identified other areas where such encroachments were rampant and would issue notice to the violators. 

The encroachments by the five hotels were removed with the help of excavators. North Bengal was likely to receive more rains till July 9, the weatherman said on Friday. A trough from Rajasthan to the north-east and an active monsoon over north Bengal was likely to bring heavy rainfall in the area. 

Heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy rain in one or two places in the sub-Himalayan districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar were likely till July 9. The downpour may cause landslides in the hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong and waterlogging in low-lying areas of the plains. Water level in the rivers Teesta, Jaldhaka, Sankosh and Torsa could rise.