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| The waterlogged campus of the small-scale industrial estate at 2nd Mile in Siliguri on Friday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo |
Siliguri, Aug. 29: Flood-like situations have occurred in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts with no signs of the rain stopping even after 48 hours.
Water levels are on the rise in almost all the rivers including the Mahananda and Balason in Siliguri, Karala in Jalpaiguri and the Leesh, Gheesh, Chel and the Murti in the Dooars.
In Siliguri, the zonal office campus of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited and the small-scale industrial estate, both located at Second Mile, are waterlogged and so are areas like Samarnagar, Santinagar and Santoshinagar.
The district administration in Jalpaiguri is concerned over the rise in the water level of the Karala that flows through the town and the detection of multiple fissures in the Teesta embankment.
“We have sent employees for inspection. Repair will start soon,” said Debasish Das, a member (execution) of the North Bengal Flood Control Commission that has issued an alert on the Teesta.
Gopinath Raha, the meteorologist-in-charge of the Regional Met Office in Jalpaiguri, said heavy to very heavy (65mm to 125mm) rainfall is likely to occur in isolated places of the region in the next 24 hours. The Teesta Barrage area has recorded the highest rainfall of 160.4 mm in the past 24 hours.
“At least 6,000-7,000 people in town have been shifted to higher places with the help of civil defence personnel,” said Mohan Bose, the chairman of Jalpaiguri Municipality.
In Cooch Behar, the district administration has issued alerts on the Torsha and the Mansai. “All the SDOs have been alerted and instructed to set up relief camps in affected areas,” said Pannalal Mahapatra, the additional district magistrate of Cooch Behar.