The situation is dire, with two iron bridges collapsed, several roads damaged and flooded, and huge tracts of land inundated in the districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, and Alipurduar.
The nightmare of travelling on national highway 10 (NH-10), the only arterial road linking Sikkim and Kalimpong with Siliguri, continues to haunt commuters.
A wet Thursday morning set the tone for what promises to be a rain-drenched next few days, with the regional Met office forecasting continued showers, gusty winds and potential disruptions across both south and north Bengal.
Inspired by India’s first Digital Nomad Village, recently launched in Sikkim’s Yakten, stakeholders in north Bengal’s tourism industry have begun exploring similar possibilities across the region.
Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) visited Kalimpong on Friday to pay his respects to the late Gyalo Thondup, elder brother of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
They have expressed concern as they said they do not have the exact information about fresh coronavirus affected persons and deaths. The concerns come at a time when an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) that touring the region and that today went to Kalimpong has alleged noncooperation from the state administration, including the police in north Bengal.
The 44-year old woman died at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital on 30 March. Some of her relatives, including those in Siliguri, had also come in contact with her before her death. Some of them tested positive for Covid- 19 and have now gone home after being cured in a Covid hospital in Siliguri.
Stricter containment measures to be first taken on an experimental basis in Darjeeling town area which will be applied in other places later.
Meanwhile, the health department has started preparations to admit suspected Covid-19 patients in a private health facility following its takeover. The other patents of the nursing home have been shifted elsewhere, it is learnt. The nurse had come in contact with the first Covid-19 patient of Kalimpong during her treatment at the NBMCH.
“A complete lockdown is being imposed in the hotspots and clusters or the areas adjoining the hotspots. We don’t want the infection to spread like wildfire. But the daily necessities of the people of these areas are being taken care of,” said chief secretary Rajiva Sinha in Nabanna today.
