Darjeeling has faced severe overnight rainfall, resulting in a fatality, property damage and disrupted connectivity throughout the region.

Raghubir Rai, 78, from Pulungdung village in Sukhiapokhri, was warming himself by his kitchen hearth when a landslide struck, burying him alive around 5pm on Thursday. This marks the first landslide-related death in the hills this year. Four other family members were inside the house at the time but emerged unharmed, according to administrative sources.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that Darjeeling received 184.4mm of rain in the last 24 hours till 8.30am, nearly half of the area's average monthly rainfall. The weather station at the Darjeeling Raj Bhavan also recorded a minimum temperature of 10.6°Celsius on Thursday.

Road access from Siliguri to Kalimpong was interrupted because of a landslide at Chitrey near Teesta Bazar. A section of National Highway 10, which links Darjeeling with Siliguri, suffered damage from a landslide, although traffic was not significantly affected. However, routes between Darjeeling and Mirik were compromised by falling boulders and trees near Sukhiapokhri.

The popular tourist route to Rock Garden has also been rendered impassable because of the overnight rains.

The 130-foot Baluwabas bridge, built by locals with support from Ajoy Edwards, the president of the Hamro Party who had pumped in more than ₹35 lakh for the bridge and a skywalk, was damaged by the Chotra Rangit river. “We will repair the bridge within the next fortnight,” Edwards said.

An administrative source said that numerous landslides have been reported across the hills. The region had recently seen a break from heavy rain, however, during a four-day period of continuous rainfall from Tuesday to Friday, approximately 300 houses were damaged, and around 60 roads faced landslides and minor cave-ins.

IMD forecasts indicate overcast conditions will persist in the area until October 10, coinciding with Saptami. An official stated that a low-pressure area is expected to form over the north Bay of Bengal and surrounding regions on Friday because of an upper air circulation over southeast Bangladesh and a trough extending from northeast Bihar to the north Andaman Sea.

Tea bonus blockade

Workers of Grassmore tea estate in the Nagrakata block of Jalpaiguri staged a road blockade on NH17 on Thursday demanding the bonus at a higher rate. The blockade, which started at 8am continued till 5pm, affecting traffic along the Chalsa-Banarhat stretch of the highway.

On Wednesday, the workers had confined the manager, demanding immediate payment of the bonus and a fortnight’s wage.

In Grassmore, it was decided through bipartite talks that the bonus would be paid at 10 per cent rate. The manager assured them that the payments would be made from Thursday. They, however, changed their stand and raised the blockade demanding a bonus at 16 per cent.