Bengal: Heavy Rain Washes Away Bridge At Jaldapara Forest Lodge, Elephants Rescue Stranded Tourists

At least 20 people lost their lives and dozens others were injured after rains wreaked havoc in Bengal's Mirik and Darjeeling, sweeping away homes and roads, and leaving hundreds of tourists stranded.

A wooden bridge at the Jaldapara Forest Tourist Lodge was washed away after heavy rain lashed West Bengal's Alipurduar, leaving tourists stranded. They were later rescued by the Kumli elephants at the national park.   

Ravikant Jha, Jaldapara Assistant Wildlife Warden, said that the elephants brought 2-4 tourists across the river because the bridge near the lodge broke due to heavy rain, making it impossible for people to use the road for commute. 

 "For the tourists who want to come, we are bringing them here by elephant, 5-6 more, and we will try to bring those who want to come here," he said.

Jha also said that three rhinos at the Jaldapara National Park were washed away in the floods. The park is one of the few places in India where the one-horned rhinoceros can be seen in the wild, after Kaziranga in Assam.   

Red Alert In Bengal, CM Assures To Rescue Tourists

A red alert has been issued for parts of Darjeeling, Coochbehar and Alipurduar districts, warning of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over the next 24 hours. A yellow alert has also been issued for most places in north Bengal covering other parts of Darjeeling, besides Kalimpong and Dooars region.

"Light to moderate rain or thundershowers are very likely to occur at most places over all the districts in north Bengal (yellow alert) with heavy to very heavy rain (7-20 cm) at a few places and extremely heavy rain (20 cm) at one or two places over Coochbehar, Alipurduar and Darjeeling districts (red alert)", PTI quoted a weather official as saying.

At least 20 people lost their lives and dozens others were injured after rains wreaked havoc in Bengal's Mirik and Darjeeling, sweeping away homes and roads, and leaving hundreds of tourists stranded.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a post on X that there was sudden rainfall exceeding 300 mm in 12 hours in north Bengal on Saturday night, causing severe flooding and landslides across at least seven locations. She also assured that the state government would make arrangements to bring back tourists safely and appealed to them not to panic or rush to leave.