The clouds and the rains led to the cancellation of a planned trip by Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu to Sikkim on Friday.
Naidu, who landed in a flight of the Indian Air Force at Bagdogra airport on Friday afternoon, was welcomed by defence officials and state tourism minister Gautam Deb. He was supposed to take a chopper that was scheduled to land in a helipad of the Indian Army located at Deorali on the outskirts of Gangtok.
In Sikkim, sources said, the Vice-President was scheduled to attend the convocation of the ICFAI University at Chintan Bhawan and Gangtok and pay a visit at the National Orchind Research Centre at Pakyong. He was scheduled to return from Sikkim on Saturday.
"Reached Bagdogra to proceed to Gangtok, Sikkim, today. Since the weather is not permitting us, I am planning to proceed to Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh (sic)," Naidu tweeted.
From Bagdogra, Naidu flew to Lilbari Airport in Assam and then headed for Itanagar on a two-day visit.
The cancellation of his trip due to weather conditions also left Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling disappointed. "Disappointed that Hon'ble VP @MVenkaiahNaidu had to cancel his visit to our State. We hope to host you soon in Sikkim, Sir," the chief minister wrote in a tweet.
In the past 24 hours, Sikkim experienced a heavy downpour. It rained around 100 mm in places like Damthang and Mazitar, and around 60 mm in Mangan while Gangtok and Tadong experienced a rainfall of 40mm.
Rainfall also occurred in Alipurduar, Kumargram, Cooch Behar, Falakata, Malda and Darjeeling.
Met office sources said the monsoon is hovering over the area and there is a cyclonic circulation over Sikkim and neighbouring areas of sub-Himalayan Bengal.
"Given the current weather conditions, there is a forecast of heavy rain (70mm to 110mm) in isolated places of Sikkim, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Kalimpong districts in next 24 hours," said a source.
The Telegraph
Post a Comment
We love to hear from you! What's on your mind?