Balurghat, Oct. 21: The sluice gate on the Atreyee river at Chakbharani here collapsed early this morning following incessant rain.

The noise of the collapse was such that panic-stricken people of adjoining areas came out into the streets fearing an earthquake.

?The strange loud sound of the collapse gave us a feeling that it was a quake. The houses in the area trembled. We thought that we were in the grip of a tremor,? said former RSP councillor and a resident of the area Gurupada Sarkar.

According to Sarkar, the sluice gate had become weak during the floods two months ago. It was further weakened when Balurghat recorded 500 mm of rainfall a fortnight ago following incessant showers for 48 hours.

As a result, the gate had been left dangling, as the earth below it was washed away.

More than 3,000 gunny bags of sand had to be placed below the gate where huge holes had appeared. Cracks had also appeared on the embankment along the Atreyee in the town.

Residents are apprehensive that the surging river will flood the town any moment. The Met forecast that the weather would remain unchanged till October 28 has made people nervous.

However, executive engineer of the irrigation department Dheeraj Dhar finds no immediate reason to panic.

?There is hardly any possibility of the river swelling and flooding the town at this time of year. We shall start repairing the gate after the rain stops,? Dhar said.

The irrigation minister and RSP MLA from Balurghat, Biswanath Chowdhury, has ordered his department to study the situation and chalk out a scheme to save the town from further threat from the Atreyee.