Two die as heavy rainfall damages railway over-bridge in north Bengal, triggers landslides

The driver of a truck and his assistant died at Jalpaiguri district in north Bengal on Tuesday morning when the vehicle fell through a railway over-bridge a portion of which caved in after being damaged by incessant rain.

The bridge is located on NH-31 C. The truck was carrying banana from Assam. The deceased were residents of Goalpara, Assam.

Santanu Bala, sub-divisional officer of Malbazar, said “Raju Sheikh (40) and Debraj Saha (35) died when their truck met with the accident near Odlabari.”

Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts are receiving heavy rainfall since Monday. Landslides have been reported at several places.

Roads between Siliguri and Darjeeling have suffered damage due to landslides while the NH-10, which connects Sikkim to the rest of the country, is in bad condition in Kalimpong district.

About a kilometre away from the where the truck fell through the bridge, the overflowing Leesh river has damaged another railway over-bridge, disrupting connectivity between Siliguri and the Dooars region.

“There have been landslides at Mirik, Pankhabari and other places in Darjeeling district but there is still connectivity between Siliguri and Darjeeling,” said S Poonambalam, the district magistrate. In the plains of Darjeeling district, several bridges and culverts have been damaged.

Some people were injured in Tindharia and Mirik when their houses were damaged.

“In Kalimpong district, landslides have been reported in some places such as Yolbong and Mahakal Dara. There was a big landslide at a location along NH-10 on Monday night but the route to Sikkim has been cleared,” said R Vimala, Kalimpong district magistrate.

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