Heavy rain and Bhutan water surge: North Bengal tea gardens submerged

JALPAIGURI/KOLKATA: Heavy showers between Saturday night and Sunday morning largely affected the tea belt of the Dooars, particularly in three blocks — Banarhat and Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri and Kalchini in Alipurduar. Banarhat and Nagrakata witnessed 350 mm of rainfall each in 12 hours, whereas Kalchini had comparatively less rainfall. In addition, water from Bhutan, which experienced very heavy rainfall, led to the flooding of some 30 tea gardens.

Gardens like Mechpara, Rheabari, Nagrakata, Moraghat, Lakhipara, Subhashini, and Satali sustained major losses. Roads broke, and many culverts collapsed in these gardens. "In Nagrakata tea estate, a footbridge on Kurti river was washed away. Flood waters also left the main bridge connecting Hila and an SSB camp damaged. We fear this bridge can collapse anytime now," said Sumit Ghosh, secretary of Tea Association of India's Dooars-Terai branch. "If that happens, at least 8,000 will be left marooned until a new bridge is constructed," he added.

"The gardens which experienced complete inundation will require special treatment and plenty of sunlight for the tea bushes for at least a week once the water recedes. But the forecast is for more ‘very heavy to extremely heavy' rainfall over the next 24 hours. If that happens, these gardens will sustain major losses," said Rajkummar Mandal, chairman of Indian Tea Association's Dooars chapter. In addition to this, the longer the water stays, the more silt it will deposit on the soil. "Water from Bhutan contains dolomite, which makes soil infertile. In a similar flood, many acres of land in Mechpara tea estate in Kalchini turned infertile due to dolomite siltation," said Ghosh.

Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty, president of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations (CISTA), said, "Last night, severe rain caused huge damage in Dooars and Terai big and small tea gardens. In Jalpaiguri, most of the big and small tea gardens of Banerhat, Nagrakata, Mal, Maynaguri and Sadar blocks went under water. Workers' lines and homes were badly damaged. Today, a huge number of workers remained absent in small tea gardens. If it rains tonight, the condition will worsen."

Mahendra P Bansal of the Terai Indian Planters Association said, "Many tea gardens in Terai and Dooars have been flooded since last night. Incidentally, there are 45 tea gardens in the Terai area."