A waterlogged street at Hakimpara in Siliguri on Friday. A Telegraph picture

Siliguri, Sept. 8: The rain god finally smiled over the Dooars, bringing relief to the people of the area.

It has been pouring over the Dooars, Terai as well as the hills of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong since yesterday, causing waterlogging at different parts of Siliguri and its outskirts, including Santoshinagar, Iskcon Mandir area and Bharatnagar.

Meteorology department officials in Jalpaiguri said the condition will remain more or less the same at least for the next 48 hours, as a western monsoon trough has been formed in the northeastern parts of the Himalayan foothills.

The director of the Jalpaiguri met office, T.K. Chakraborty, told The Telegraph that an upper air circulation has been formed in this part.

A monsoon trough has been created in north Bengal and the Northeast as a result of which, the region is getting so much of rain, he said. The same condition prevailed in central India, including Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Goa and also upper hills like Jammu and Kashmir a few days ago.

“The situation will stay the same for a few more days, after which the trough is expected to disappear as the air current from the Bay of Bengal is likely to go further north,” Chakraborty added.

He said a similar trough might be formed in this part again by the second week of October. “So, you do not really know, how the weather will be during the Durga Puja. Heavy rainfall might spoil the festive days,” he said.

Subir Sarkar, the head of the geography department and in-charge of the met station in North Bengal University, said several depressions have been formed in the region, which caused the heavy rainfall in the hills and at the Dooars.

“Unless the depression stays in direct contact with the moisture supply from the Bay of Bengal, it will lose its strength in a couple of days.,” Sarkar said.

He said if the downpour continued for the next few days, the record might touch a figure, which is around the average annual rainfall of this region (3,100 mm).

Though the rain has brought relief for farmers in the region, who have been trying hard to save their crops from the drought, those cultivating crops in low-land areas are not so happy. Crops like aman paddy and tea, sowed in low lands, will be washed away, said a farmer.

“Nursery beds of vegetables, which are harvested at the beginning of the winter, will be affected due to this sudden change in weather,” said Sarthak Burma, the additional director of agriculture in north Bengal.