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.
Road clearance work underway after heavy rains triggered landslides in Darjeeling on Sunday. (ANI video grab) 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
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