Teesta River Floods North Bengal After Cloudburst in Sikkim

A cloudburst in north Sikkim on Tuesday night caused the Teesta river to surge, flooding a number of settlements along both of its banks in the downstream Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts of north Bengal.

The river reached the danger threshold at Gajoldoba in Jalpaiguri, where there is a barrage on the river, on Wednesday morning, and the state irrigation agency sounded a red (secondary) alarm.

"Around 10am, the barrage released 8,252 cumecs of water. Additionally, until the afternoon, 6,000–7,000 cumecs of water were discharged every hour to tackle the issue. Rarely in recent years has the barrage discharged such a large amount of water downstream, according to a representative of the irrigation department.

In the Jalpaiguri district's Kranti, Rajganj, and Mainaguri blocks, the Teesra river inundated a number of low-lying areas.

According to a source in the Jalpaiguri district administration, "the damage could be controlled as people from these areas have been asked to leave their homes and move to safer places since early Wednesday morning."

The authorities and BSF began rescue operations in Mekhliganj, the Cooch Behar neighborhood where Teesta enters Bangladesh. Only 300 kilometers from the India-Bangladesh border, the BSF found Singhpara, an islet in the Teesta, and saved 183 inhabitants.

"All of a sudden, the water levels began to increase. We were concerned, but the BSF officers arrived at our location in boats. We were taken to the riverbank by them. Although we are relieved, we are unsure if the river has inundated our hutments, according to Singhpara resident Nurbanu Begum.

Residents of Mekhliganj who lived close to the river on both banks were relocated higher up. In order to notify the public, the administration issued public notices.

As the water level rose, the police in Jalpaiguri controlled traffic on the Teesta Bridge on NH27.

"In the evening, the water level began to drop. However, the region's predicted increased rainfall is what worries us, according to a representative of the irrigation department.

He stated that the state irrigation minister would tour some of the damaged districts and arrive in the area on Thursday for a meeting in Gajoldoba.

According to meteorologists, the Gangetic Bengal, Sikkim, and sub-Himalayan Bengal were experiencing active southwest monsoons.

"Heavy to very heavy rainfall (70mm to 200mm) is predicted for Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Sikkim, Birbhum, and Murshidabad over the next few days. According to a source in the local Met office in Calcutta, "a red alarm on rainfall has been raised across Sikkim.