WB: Heavy rains trigger landslides in Darjeeling and Mirik, at least 20 dead

At least 20 people died and several others injured as incessant heavy rainfall triggered multiple landslides across the Mirik and Darjeeling hills in the northern part of West Bengal on Sunday sweeping away homes damaging roads and cutting off several remote hamlets officials saidAccording to reports from the NDRF and the district administration fatalities were reported from several locations mdash Sarsaly Jasbirgaon Mirik Basti Dhar Gaon Mechi Nagrakata and Mirik Lake area NDRF said at least 11 people have died in Mirik the worst affected area in the landslide and seven injured have been rescued from the areaIn Darjeeling seven people died and the rescue operations were underway with the help of police local administration and disaster response teams ldquoSeven deaths have been reported due to a major landslide in Darjeeling subdivision triggered by heavy rainfall since last night The rescue and relief work is onrdquo Darjeeling SubDivisional Officer SDO Richard Lepcha saidDudia Iron Bridge collapsed due to heavy rainfall PICXairnewskurseongAt least 40 people were rescued from the debris in Dhar Gaon Nagarakata where heavy mudslides flattened several houses The landslides disrupted traffic movement on key routes including the MirikSukhiapokhri road while communication lines to several hilltop settlements were snapped According to the NDRF road connectivity remains severely disrupted in Darjeeling district and North Sikkim and an iron bridge connecting Siliguri with the MirikDarjeeling route has been damaged cutting off access to the regionPM mnitoring situationPrime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences over the deaths and said the situation in Darjeeling and surrounding areas is being closely monitored in the wake of heavy rains and landslidesIn a post on X Prime Minister Narendra Modi said ldquoDeeply pained by the loss of lives due to a bridge mishap in Darjeeling Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones May the injured recover soon The situation in Darjeeling and surrounding areas is being closely monitored in the wake of heavy rains and landslides We are committed to providing all possible assistance to those affectedrdquoShah expresses griefUnion Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday expressed grief over the loss of lives in Darjeeling due to heavy rains and said teams of the National Disaster Response Force have been deployed with more troops on standby if neededThe Home Minister said that he also spoke to Darjeeling MP Raju Bista and took stock of the situation there ldquoDeeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives in Darjeeling due to heavy rains My thoughts are with the people who lost their loved ones Praying for the speedy recovery of the injuredrdquo Shah said in a post on XCM Mamata to visit region todayChief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced compensation for the victims without specifying the amount and the number of deaths and said she would visit the rainaffected region on October 6 to assess the situation The CM said she will visit North Bengal on Monday to assess the situation and is currently monitoring developments from the control room at the state secretariat NabannaChief Minister Mamata BanerjeeBanerjee described the situation as ldquograverdquo and expressed grief over the incident ldquoWe are deeply saddened I held virtual meetings with officials of five affected districts along with the chief secretary I have been monitoring the situation since 6 amrdquo she said The CM assured that the state government would make arrangements to bring back safely the thousands of tourists which have been She also appealed to tourists not to panic or rush to leaveldquoMany tourists are stranded I request them not to hurry Please stay where you are Hotels must not overcharge them Their safety is our responsibility and the administration will ensure thatrdquo the Chief Minister saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever