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More than 400 landslides hit Darjeeling, Kalimpong within four hours: Officials
At least 546 houses, 10 bridges, and 57 water supply lines were fully damaged in Darjeeling alone, while 21 houses were damaged in Kalimpong.
More than 400 landslides, triggered by extremely heavy rainfall, hit Darjeeling and Kalimpong in north Bengal within a span of around four hours between Saturday night and Sunday early morning, killing 24 people and injuring several others, officials said.
The situation, however, hasn’t worsened in the last 24 hours as there were no fresh spells of any heavy rains in the hills or in the foothills since Sunday morning.
Preliminary estimates shared by officials of the disaster management department revealed that at least 546 houses, 10 bridges, and 57 water supply lines were fully damaged in Darjeeling alone. The district registered around 406 landslides between Saturday night and Sunday morning. In Kalimpong another 21 houses were damaged.
“We are still collecting data and reports of the devastation are still pouring in. More than 400 landslides have been reported. Communication lines have been hit as a result of which reports are taking time to pour in. There have been no reports of any fresh deaths or devastation. The death toll stands at 24 as of now,” said an official.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is expected to visit flood-hit areas of north Bengal later in the day.
“Banerjee is likely to visit Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts. She will return to Siliguri in the evening and stay in a government guest house in Jalpaiguri,” said a police officer.
The India Meteorological Department had issued a red alert on Saturday, warning of extremely heavy rainfall in some areas of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar.
“The situation hasn’t worsened further in the hills as there were no fresh spells of heavy rain over the last 24 hours. While Darjeeling received 145mm rain between Saturday morning and Sunday morning, the amount of rain dropped to 1.8 mm between Sunday morning and Monday morning. Similarly, while Kalimpong received 131mm rain between Saturday morning and Sunday morning, the district received 0.5mm rain between Sunday morning and Monday,” said a senior official of the state disaster management department.
The amount of rain also reduced significantly in Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts.
The NDRF deployed several teams to rescue people. Till Sunday night, at least 105 people were rescued by boats and another 55 by zip line in Jalapaiguri district, the NDRF wrote on X.
While Darjeeling and Kalimpong are popular hill destinations in north Bengal with multiple tourist spots, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar house national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Millions of tourists visit these areas every year as the peak season starts in October. Hotel associations said that 80% of the rooms in hotels were booked.
Though allegations surfaced that the disaster management department was not prepared for any eventualities, a senior officer associated with the GTA’s disaster management team said: “We had put all necessary precautions in place. Had we not been prepared and informed all the concerned, we would not have been able to bring the condition back to normal in less than 24 hours.”
“Panic created by media reports resulted in massive hotel booking cancellation,” Nabin Thapa, who runs multiple hotels in Darjeeling, told HT.
Sachep Pradhan, the joint secretary of Darjeeling Hotel Owners’ Association, said “Though people have died and damages have been caused, tourism industry in Darjeeling and Kalimpong regions have not been affected. Tourism infrastructure has not been affected and weather is pleasant. Exaggerated and negative media reports have damaged the tourism industry.”
