Intermittent bouts of rainfall in three north Bengal districts and the neighbouring state of Sikkim because of a cyclonic circulation in the sub-Himalayan Bengal have brought some respite for the tea industry of this region.
Since Saturday evening, it rained in most parts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts.
Chinmay Dhar, the chairman of the Dooars branch of the Tea Association of India, said that in the Dooars, it had rained on March 29 and again, after a big gap, it rained on Saturday evening.
“In some locations, the total rainfall in the past 24 hours (till 8.30am on Sunday) was between 76mm and 127mm. This rainfall has come as a blessing for the tea industry as tea bushes were scorched under the prolonged sun and heat. We believe that the downpour will help improve the yield and tea production will increase in the coming weeks,” said Dhar.
Since the inception of the tea season, that is, from March this year, tea planters have time and again expressed concern over inclement weather conditions. Because of the shortage of rainfall, the yield in tea plantations had reduced and impacted the production process. Earnings in the sector had consequently taken a dip, they had said.
Bijoygopal Chakraborty, president of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations, said he was perturbed over the lack of rain.
“The small tea growers, who contribute over 50 per cent of the total tea produced in Bengal, were in real distress as they couldn’t harvest adequate quantities of tea leaves at their plantations. Apart from this weekend, we hope we get more rainfall as it would be helpful for the sector,” he said.
In Siliguri, it rained almost persistently since late Saturday evening. The downpour led to waterlogging in a number of low-lying areas.
Weather experts said the east-west trough that has developed from a cyclonic circulation, extends from west Uttar Pradesh to south Assam across east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and sub-Himalayan Bengal.
“There is a forecast of more rainfall in the sub-Himalayan region and even in other north Bengal districts such as South Dinajpur and Malda. Also, there will be more rainfall in Sikkim,” said a source at the regional Met office in Calcutta.
He said that in the past 24 hours, there has been heavy to very heavy rainfall (70mm to 200mm) in a number of places in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts and heavy rainfall (70mm to 110mm) in some parts of Alipurduar district.
In Sikkim, sources said, minor landslides occurred on some local roads of the mountain state.
Although NH10, the principal highway that connects Sikkim with Siliguri and the rest of the country, remained open on Sunday, traffic movement got affected for some time during the day on the local roads because of the landslides. The local administration engaged workers and equipment to clear the debris from the roads.