Historically, October has seen some of the worst landslide events in Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas.
The death toll from landslides in Darjeeling, West Bengal has risen to 24, with rescue operations continuing amidst challenging conditions. Thousands of tourists are stranded as roads remain blocked.
Darjeeling is slowly recovering from the devastating impact of relentless rainfall and massive landslides that struck the region. The natural calamity left homes shattered, roads blocked, and communities displaced.
At least 23 people, including children, were killed as relentless rain triggered one of the worst landslides in a decade in Darjeeling hills and adjoining areas on Sunday, sweeping away homes, cutting off roads, isolating villages, and leaving hundreds of stranded tourists amid widespread devastation, officials said.
The famed Darjeeling tea may have slip to a new production low in 2025, as changing weather patterns, a shortage of pluckers and mounting economic stress weigh on the region's gardens.
The recent flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain in north Bengal have caused massive destruction in at least 30-35 tea gardens in Darjeeling, with reports of loss of plantation areas, deaths of workers and damage to houses of labourers, prompting planters to convene a meeting to assess the situation, stakeholders said.
The search operation was on to recover more missing persons by the army, the NDRF, the Sashastra Seema Bal and other rescue teams.
Mamata said at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district that the losses occurred owing to rainwater flowing down from Bhutan through various rivers.
The BJP claimed that the attackers were TMC-backed goons, accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of allowing violence against opposition leaders even in times of humanitarian crisis.
BJP MLA Manoj Kumar Oraon was allegedly attacked by TMC workers while distributing flood relief materials in Alipurduar. The TMC has denied the charges.
Six persons were killed in a series of landslides in Darjeeling district while the Army was called to rescue flood-hit families in Kalimpong sub-division
A landslide caused by heavy rains on the Hill Cart road in Darjeeling has snapped the road link of the hill station with the rest of the country.
Strong demand for cultural and spiritual hubs is expected for destinations like Varanasi, Kolkata during Durga Puja, and Pushkar for the camel fair, besides leisure destinations like Goa, Udaipur, Jaipur and Coorg.
Rescue operations were underway in three subdivisions of Darjeeling district where multiple landslides have claimed 38 lives besides washing away highways and damaging homes.
The landslides have caused extensive damage to NH 10 and NH 55, cutting off road and telecommunication link to Darjeeling and Sikkim.
Torrential rains pounded the tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim and the tea growing region of North Bengal, causing landslides that cut off National Highway-10, the main road linking Gangtok with the rest of the country.
The spokesperson said a total of 3 National Disaster Response Force teams and those from the Army, state police and local administration are working at the Tupul yard railway construction camp of the Territorial Army.
138 members of Bharat Scouts and Guides from West Bengal, mostly aged between 10 and 15 years, braved their way back to New Jalpaiguri railway station from Sikkim before heading home to Barrackpore near Kolkata to narrate their harrowing experience.
The heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railways will resume the toy train services from December from Siliguri.
Many low-lying areas in West Bengal's sub-Himalayan region were reeling from a flood-like situation while major rivers in Bihar were flowing above the danger level at several places as unabated heavy rain lashed the country's eastern parts on Sunday.
Fifteen years after quitting the Sikkim Democratic Front in 2009, he decimated Chamling's party, scripting history by winning 31 of 32 assembly seats in the Himalayan state in 2024.
'These include economic prosperity, a promising future for youth, empowerment for women, a thriving society, robust healthcare, quality education, elevated living standards, agricultural prosperity, and robust social security coupled with effective governance.'
The BJP, which has emerged as the main opposition party in West Bengal after winning 77 seats in the assembly polls last year, failed to win even a single civic body.
'Parties which supported me were all threatened. This could hardly have been called a fair election.' 'This is Modi's India.'
The water level of major rivers, including the Ganga and the Yamuna, in Uttar Pradesh has crossed the danger mark at several places.
Flood situation in south Bengal turned grim on Saturday with 1.19 lakh people taking shelter in relief camps in 12 districts of the state even as weatherman forecast more heavy rains in the next two days.
Scientists at the India Meteorological Department warn that not only has India turned hotter in the last two decades, but that heat waves are projected to become more intense, have longer durations and greater frequency, thereby resulting in more deaths.
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