Bengal rains: Death toll rises to 27; Mamata Banerjee calls it man-made flood
Death toll from north Bengal floods and landslides rises to 27, with 6 missing; heavy rains caused over 400 landslides, damaging infrastructure.
Kolkata/Siliguri: The death toll in the north Bengal flood and landslides rose to 27 after nine more bodies were recovered from Jalpaiguri district since Sunday, officials aware of the developments said on Monday. At least six persons are still reported missing from Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling, the two worst-hit districts.
The extremely heavy rainfall triggered more than 400 landslides in the two hill-districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong and inundated large areas in the districts of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar, located in the Himalayan foothills, damaging roads, bridges and houses. Several people were injured and a few thousand have been rendered homeless.
Eighteen people died in Darjeeling due to landslides while nine people died in Jalpaiguri due to flood.
“It was a man-made flood. While on one hand there has been extremely heavy rains since Saturday, Bhutan released water from its dams, which came gushing down through some of the transboundary rivers and flooded some of the districts. Several areas still remain disconnected. The water will take at least 2-3 days to recede,” said Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a red alert on Saturday warning of extremely heavy rains in some areas in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar.
Banerjee visited a relief camp at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri on Monday, where around 3,000 people from more than 400 families have taken shelter. She is likely to visit Mirik in Darjeeling on Tuesday. These are the two worst-hit areas, Banerjee told reporters at NSCBI airport in Kolkata on Monday morning before leaving for north Bengal.
“We have lost everything. We don’t have clothes to wear. Our house has been washed away. What are we to do?” a woman was heard telling the chief minister at the camp.
“The government is with you. Stay in the relief camp. The water will take at least 2-3 days to recede. We shall then do a survey to take stock of the damage. The government will rebuild the houses. It will take some time,” Banerjee said.
A second woman told Banerjee that one of her family members was still missing.
“Search operations are going on. The moment we get some information, you will be informed,” Banerjee replied.
The government also announced compensation of ₹5 lakh and a job of a home guard to kin of those who were killed in the floods.
Preliminary reports shared by district officials suggest 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.
While on Sunday the death toll was officially stated to be 18, at least five bodies were recovered on Sunday from Nagrakata. On Monday four more bodies were recovered from Bamandanga Tea Garden under Sulkapara gram panchayat in Nagrakata.
“Some people from Sulkapara Tea Garden, where Jaldhaka and Dyna rivers originating in Bhutan wrought havoc since Saturday night, are missing. Nine bodies have been recovered so far,” Sanjay Kujur, sabhapati of Nagrakata panchayat samity told Hindustan Times.
Earlier on Sunday, 11 bodies were recovered from Mirik subdivision and seven bodies were recovered from Darjeeling subdivision, both in Darjeeling districts.
The situation, however, hasn’t worsened in the last 24 hours as there had been no spells of any heavy rains in the hills or in the foothills since Sunday morning.
A senior IMD official said that 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.
The amount of rain also dropped significantly in the districts of Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar located in the foothills.
While Darjeeling and Kalimpong are popular hill destinations in north Bengal, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar house National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. Lakhs of tourists visit these areas every year. The peak season starts in October.
“All tourists are safe. Hotels have been asked not to charge any cost from the tourists who have got stranded. Efforts are on to bring back 500 tourists to the plains on Monday. On Sunday, at least 250 tourists were brought back to the plains in 45 buses and lodged in various hotels in Siliguri. Community kitchens have been set up in flood-hit areas,” Banerjee said.
The tourism industry suffered a setback leading to several cancellations of bookings. On Monday, however, the industry was limping back to normal.
Sachep Pradhan,joint secretary of Darjeeling Hotel Owners’ Association, said, “Though people have died and damages have been caused, tourism infrastructure has not been affected and weather is pleasant. Exaggerated and negative media reports had damaged the tourism industry.”
There were reports of deaths of some wild animals including a leopard, a rhino, some sambar deer and bison. An elephant calf was rescued from the Mechi river, which originates in Nepal and passes through West Bengal.
