By IANS
Kolkata : After triggering floods and landslides in West Bengal in the past few days, torrential rains finally showed signs of ebbing away with the sky clearing up Sunday.
No fresh reports of landslides were reported from Darjeeling, Siliguri and Kalimpong in the northern part of the state.
A red alert – sounded for all northern West Bengal rivers like Teesta, Torsa, Jaldhaka, Leesh and Gheesh – has been withdrawn by the district administration.
“Government officials in the hills have told me that the flood situation is gradually improving. The local administration has withdrawn the red alert as most rain-fed rivers are now flowing below the danger mark,” West Bengal Relief Minister Mortaza Hossain told IANS Sunday.
He said adequate relief, both in cash and kind, has already been sent to the rain-affected districts.
“We have also made sufficient arrangements to distribute relief materials from our central board in Siliguri,” he said.
“I have sanctioned Rs. 5 million for providing relief to the flood-affected villages. I have also asked the administration to extend succour to the distressed people in Siliguri, Cooch Behar and Darjeeling,” Mortaza said.
Landslips triggered by incessant rainfall have left eight people dead and displaced over 500 in Darjeeling district since Friday.
Movement of traffic through National Highway 31 and 31A, which links Sikkim and Kalimpong with Siliguri, has been affected.
The local administration, army and Border Road Organisation (BRO) officials are working round the clock to clear the debris.