I was buried under the mud all night long. My 12-year-old daughter died sleeping right next to me, I could not save her,” Fendo Sangmu Bhutia, 35, says, wiping away her tears. Her nine-year-old nephew was also buried under the same landslide. As her voice chokes thinking about losing her only child, Bhutia recalls that they had gone to their maternal home in Mirik to celebrate Dashain on October 2, Nepal’s most important festival celebrated during Dasara. During this time, Hindus believe that the goddess Durga fought and won over the demon Mahishasura. The festivities ended with the funeral of two children.
On the intervening night of October 4 and 5, torrential rain lashed West Bengal’s Darjeeling district and other parts of north Bengal, triggering over 110 major landslides, as the area received around 261mm of rainfall in just 12 hours. There were over 32 dead, 40 injured, thousands left stranded, and many missing.
Mirik, a tourist destination cradled between alpine forests and a lake, was one of the worst affected. Many say they have not witnessed devastation like this in 30 years.
In many areas, the soil has turned unstable, roads have vanished under layers of mud and reaching houses means trudging through sludge and crumbling bits of rock while balancing between life, death, and the mountain cliffs. Deep inside this landslide-affected area, Bhutia and her family sit quietly, trying to find reason behind their children’s death.
The political aftermath
As the intensity of the wreckage came to light, condolences poured in from several political leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The CM also announced a ₹5 lakh compensation for families of the deceased. By October 10, the West Bengal government had released ₹1.60 crore to the next of kin of 32 deceased.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president Samik Bhattacharya was quick to visit the devastation site on October 6; Banerjee and the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, conducted their visits the next day. The BJP and ruling Trinamool Congress blamed the other for not taking enough measures to stop the disaster and control the aftermath.
Banerjee has blamed poor flood management by the Central government for the devastation. She added that the floods were “man-made” because of release of water from Bhutan and rampant construction of hydel power projects on the river Teesta, which flows from Sikkim into West Bengal.
The Bengal BJP president said, “It is foolish to expect a humane face from this government. No State in India has ever seen such an intolerant, vindictive, and incompetent government. This government has not made any effort to soothe the pain of the people of north Bengal.”
On October 5, after the flooding and landslides, the Bhutan government issued a flood warning. “It is requested to be alert and inform the State government of West Bengal, India, to prepare for eventualities,” an alert from the neighbouring country’s National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology said. The statement also said that they had received information from Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) that the Tala hydropower dam gates failed to open and river water is overflowing from the dam.
A cry for loved ones
During Dashain, many relatives had come back to their maternal homes to celebrate the festival with their families. Homes were full of people, festive joy, and celebrations. About 5 km away from Bhutia’s house, Nisha Lama lost both her parents and her sister to another landslide which barged into their homes while they were all asleep, tired from all the festivities.
“We heard noises around 1.30 a.m., but we thought it was the thunderstorm and the incessant rain. Later, around 5 in the morning we realised our family members had been buried under the mud in their sleep,” Nisha says. Sadhna Tamang Lama, 35, Nisha’s sister, had come from her marital home in Nepal. She went back in a coffin four days later with her husband, who is too upset to speak.
The once blue water of the Mirik lake has turned brown with the overflowing mud. At least 11 people have died here. Some here cry over the loss of their loved ones, some cry over the loss of business that fed families. Unlike the onslaught of nature, people grieve quietly. The devastation comes just about three weeks before Deepavali, India’s biggest festival.
Nisha’s family home is now being cleaned out of the muddy sludge. A tree trunk has got lodged inside a bedroom. She suspects that if the sludge had continued to flow for 10 more minutes, she would have been buried with her family.
Broken bridges, snapped communication
The main road between Siliguri and Mirik closed down after an iron bridge in Dudhia village collapsed.
| Photo Credit:
Shrabana Chatterjee
The main road between Siliguri and Mirik closed down after a major iron bridge across the Balason river near Dudhia village collapsed when water gushed with force. Over 25 families along the river have been shifted to the Dudhia community hall, about a kilometre away. Sensing trouble, most ran from home with the clothes on their bodies and their documents.
Pukar Chettri, an 18-year-old in Class 11 has been caught in the turmoil. As he sits at the relief camp fighting mosquitoes, trying to stay clear of contagious diseases amid the floods, he realises that his schoolbooks and uniform are lost in the chaos. He fears it will take him long to get back to study.
“We tried to wake up as many people as we could; we searched for people with a torch light. The soil below our homes has been washed away,” he says, referring to structures that in part have no supporting land beneath, making them precarious to live in. “Where will we go now?” Pukar says. Many have been so traumatised that they are unable to sleep at night fearing they might have to evacuate at any moment. Family members keep a watch in turns as others get a few hours of sleep.
As a dark stretch of cloud starts to build up over their heads and rain droplets touch the ground around them, the faces in the relief camp change. There is worry and fear.
The Chief Minister has promised that a temporary bridge will be constructed in the area until the iron bridge is reconstructed. Now, locals are taking detours that add over 50 km and 5 hours between Mirik and Siliguri. Previously the journey took about 2.5 hours.
Manabendra Modak, executive director of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the regional autonomous body that administers the Darjeeling hills, says that the restoration work is under way. “Over 110 major landslides have been recorded –— the smaller ones we cannot begin to count. The devastation is unparalleled. No tourists are stuck anywhere; they have been rescued. It will take time to bring things back to normal, given the level of destruction,” Modak adds.
Along with local administration, three teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in north Bengal, including one in the severely affected Mirik area. Along with the landslides and damage in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, the Dooars in the foothills, particularly in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts, have been severely affected.
Rescue on ropes
Through the weight of death and destruction, stories of courage and resilience have begun to emerge. Over 130 km away from Mirik, a video of Jalpaiguri district’s Nagrakata Block Medical Officer Dr. Irfan Mollah went viral on social media.
He was seen travelling to the Bamandanga village hanging on a zipline rope between two mountains to tend to injured patients and pregnant mothers stuck in the flood-hit areas. His actions were applauded by locals and administration alike, but his work did not end there; it had only begun.
Since October 5 morning when the chest deep water started receding, the doctor and his team set out on foot to find affected people in their block only to realise that at least three villages had been completely cut off from communication.
“We have found multiple bodies over the last three days. Children and parents have died. We have provided the injured with first aid and basic medicines. Sorboshantyo hoye gache manush, (People are left with nothing),” Dr. Irfan adds. The local administration has provided the affected people with clothes and food.
Preeti Goyal, the District Magistrate of Darjeeling, says her team has been working relentlessly to reach and rehabilitate people in one of the 33 camps set up to give temporary relief. “Our team members have walked up to 6 km on foot every day to reach afffected families,” she says.
A citizenship at stake
Manebhanjan, a village at the Indo-Nepal border with a population of about 2,300 as per the panchayat, is considered the gateway to the Himalayan Kanchenjunga range, and is about 70 km from Mirik. Manebhanjan – meaning junction in Nepali – is also part of the Darjeeling district. Two children and three adults of the Chettri family were crushed to death under a landslide here.
Locals here say no media or government officials have come to meet them other than the Sashastra Seema Bal who helped recover the bodies. “We live along the border, so our citizenship is constantly under scrutiny. But we are Indian citizens. Do we not deserve the same respect as others?” a local says.
Inside the devastated home of the Chettris, children’s toys and clothes lie in the sludge. Bright light from the broken windows streams in, but Raju Chettri who lost his daughter remains in the dark sorrow of losing his family.
The five family members who are still alive in the Chettri family are now living in a secluded place for 13 days to mourn their loved ones. According to Nepali tradition, no one is allowed to touch them as they sit in their enclosure.
“I was not at home when it happened. I was leading a trek group when I got the news,” Raju, 37, a trek leader, says, as he tries to control his tears. He was born and brought up in this small village; he has never seen such devastation in these parts.
The Chettri family’s citizenship is in question, and the government-declared compensation of ₹5 lakh is now at stake. Darjeeling Sub-Divisional Officer, Richard Lepcha is clear: “All five of them are Nepali citizens. The Nepal government can give them compensation.”
However, Raju produces his voter ID; his deceased mother had one too. His daughter had a birth certificate. Locals say the three other family members who died in the same house were guests from Nepal.
Locals near Sukhiapokhri trying to clear out the debris to find remnants of their lives and make way for transport.
| Photo Credit:
Shrabana Chatterjee
In an otherwise calm place where hundreds of tourists flock every day to start their journey to reach Sandakphu mountain, the highest point in West Bengal for the 180-degree view of the Great Himalayas, one of the Himalayan ranges, travel remains suspended. Anil Tamang, head of the Land Rovers Association, says 90% of the population in their village is dependent on tourism and suspending it during peak season has left them with no resource to make a living. As he laments, he is met with the news of the roads opening up. He joins his colleagues to share a sigh of relief.
As the mountains bear witness to nature’s fury, a strong sense of resilience shines through its shadows.
shrabana.chatterjee@thehindu.co.in
