Landslide kills One in Darjeeling Hills

DARJEELING: Monsoon has claimed its first victim in Darjeeling on Thursday afternoon. Twenty-two-year-old Shubawana Chhetri of Himali Gaon near Singamari, 4 km from the town, died after a wall adjacent to her house crashed on her following a landslip on Thursday afternoon. According to Monalisa Chhetri, mother of the deceased, the accident took place at around 12.30 in the afternoon. "Both of us were clearing out the rain water that had accumulated in front of our house. I was cleaning the toilet area while my daughter was taking care of the garden when I heard a huge thud. I rushed out and to my horror found the retaining wall near our house had collapsed on my daughter," said the mother. "I managed to remove the debris with the help of the neighbours," she said with tears in her eyes.

Her neighbours said that incessant rainfall since Wednesday night had damaged the wall which did not have proper cementing and supporting pillar. Doctors at the Darjeeling district sadar hospital declared Shubhawana brought dead. "She (Shubhawana) died on her way to the hospital. So we declared her brought dead," said a senior doctor who was on duty when the body was brought to the hospital. Around the same time, another girl of the Rose Bank area near Rajbari also sustained injuries in a similar incident. Landslide damaged a wall, which fell on that was erected to bar a temple fell on school going Sheetal Thapa (17) who was on her way to school. Thapa was reportedly on her way to school when the wall of a nearby temple came crashing on her. Doctors attending to her said she was out of danger and was later released after thorough check up and treatment. 

Though there is no Met department in the Hills, records of the agriculture department pointed to 76.4 mm rainfall in last 24 hours in Darjeeling. "One person died and another was injured on Thursday," said Gopal Rai, an officer of the civil defense However, the administration is on the alert and is keeping a close watch. "We are on the alert and on vigil. But so far the amount of rainfall is unlikely to cause major damage," said a senior official of the district administration.