The tea industry in the Dooars has so far incurred a loss of over Rs 60 crore because of the rainfall and flood, representatives of tea planters’ associations said on Friday.

In the past week, tea estates have been hit by heavy rainfall, affecting the yield.

Added to it, the rise in water levels of streams and rivers has led to flood and erosion in most of the gardens. Water has damaged roads, culverts and bridges and workers’ quarters in the estates.

July is considered as one of the prime months when production reaches its peak.

Although water has receded from the estates in the past couple of days, the planters have found that either portions of the plantations have been eroded or the bushes have suffered damage.

“After the water levels have gone down, chunks of land are falling into the riverbeds from the plantations. Also, tea leaves cannot be harvested from the bushes that have surfaced from under water. Altogether, it is a grim situation and we fear that the estimated figure of loss, which is over Rs 60 crore now, will go up,” said R.A. Sharma, secretary of the Dooars branch of the Tea Association of India.

According to sources, more than 50 gardens in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri have been severely affected.