The India Meteorological Department on Thursday issued a red alert for four flood-hit districts in north Bengal – Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar – with warnings of heavy rains and landslides on Friday.
Severe cyclonic storm ‘Montha’ has weakened into a low pressure and was lying over Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as of Thursday morning, but the weather system is expected to trigger heavy to very heavy rains in the four districts, with extremely heavy rains in some areas.
“Heavy to very heavy rain is expected in the four districts, with extremely heavy rain in or two places over Jalpaiguri. A red alert has been issued for the four districts from Friday morning to Saturday morning,” said a senior IMD official in Kolkata.
Heavy rains on the night of October 4 and in the early hours of October 5 had triggered landslides and floods in the four districts along with Cooch Behar. At least 32 people were killed, with Mirik in Darjeeling district and Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri being the worst hit.
“There are possibilities of landslides in Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills. The water level in the rivers Teesta, Torsa, Raidak and Jaldhaka are likely to rise. There are chances of water logging and inundation in low-lying areas,” the official said.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier claimed that the October 5 flood was man-made, while alleging that Bhutan had released huge amounts of water from its dams which triggered the flood in north Bengal districts, located downstream. Multiple transboundary rivers enter West Bengal from Bhutan.
“The hills are totally soaked after the monsoon rains. Heavy rains after the monsoon can further increase the chances of major landslides in vulnerable areas,” said a senior official of the Geological Survey of India.
The system over central India is also likely to trigger some rain in the districts of south Bengal. No warning has been issued for south Bengal districts.
