Watch: Heavy rain triggers landslide in Darjeeling, damages newly redeveloped road

New Delhi: A spell of heavy rain triggered a landslide in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, damaging a stretch of the main road linking Rimbik and Lodhama areas in the hills and affecting traffic flow.

Now, on June 28, there was a landslide in the Paglajhora area of West Bengal’s Darjeeling district. The incident took place on a stretch of road that links the Rimbik and Lodhama areas in the hills. Reportedly, the disaster has affected the flow of traffic and blocked the national highway.

A video of the situation was posted on Twitter by Zee News’ Pooja Mehta and shows a large swathe of the road caving in. While some of had already fallen in, the video shows additional portions of the road and the soil below falling down into a valley of sorts. Additionally, cracks can be seen along the side of the road.

#Watch: Massive landslide hits Darjeeling triggered by heavy rains. Road at Paglajhora has been completely blocked following a landslide this morning. NH 55 has been cut off following the landslide at Paglajhoraa under Kurseong subdivision @ZeeNews pic.twitter.com/ovrPtLzND3

— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_news) June 29, 2020

North Bengal districts, along with the neighbouring Assam and Bihar, have been on the receiving end of incessant rainfall over the past one week. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a cyclonic circulation lies over east Uttar Pradesh and a north-to-south trough (elongated low-pressure area) runs from east Bihar to north Odisha. As per the forecasts, the unsettled weather will bring widespread rainfall across the Sub-Himalayan West Bengal region over the next five days.