Rescue mission: National Disaster Response Force personnel evacuating stranded people using a temporary zip line laid across a broken bridge near Jalpaiguri in West Bengal. — AP
Rescuers were scouring India’s northeastern tea-growing hill district of Darjeeling for missing people a day after landslides triggered by heavy downpours killed at least 24, officials said.
Teams of Indian army and disaster force rescuers were searching for the missing who are feared trapped under mounds of debris, said Udayan Guha, West Bengal state development minister.
Downpours and road damage hampered efforts to reach several affected villages, officials said.
Television news showed rescue workers using earth movers to clear the debris.
Landslides triggered by intense rains destroyed homes and infrastructure and left hundreds of tourists stranded in Darjeeling over the weekend.
Rainfall also caused two iron bridges to collapse, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a post on X.
India’s weather department forecast heavy rainfall in the region until today.
Cloudbursts, floods and landslides have caused significant loss of life and property in recent months across India.
Flash floods swept away an entire village in the northern state of Uttarakhand in August.
On Sunday, at least 44 people were killed in Nepal due to mudslides and flooding triggered by severe rainfall.
Experts say human-caused climate change is intensifying South Asia’s monsoons, which usually run from June to September and again from October to December.
The rains, once predictable, now arrive in erratic bursts that dump extreme amounts of water in short periods, followed by dry spells. — AP
