Rain causes extensive damages in hills, one missing

DARJEELING,: The torrential rain that lashed the hills in the past two days has caused extensive damage to properties and has blocked numerous roads due to landslides.  
A person also went missing after being covered by debris in Darjeeling town area.
According to Darjeeling district magistrate S. Ponnambalam, the missing person, Sonam Thapa, was in guard room when the landslide occurred above SDO bungalow in Darjeeling and the debris suppressed the guard room. Police, civil defence along with the NDRF have been deputed to locate Thapa, he added.
Likewise, many rural roads have are still closed due to landslides. “Many have been reopened and effort is on to open the others. The alternative route to the plains from Darjeeling like Rohini and Pankhabari was also open today however NH55 remained closed due to landslide at Mahanadi near Kurseong," the DM said.
The landslide has also damaged the SDO Bungalow and the PWD A.E. Bungalow
According to the police, the routes that were blocked by landslides are Chongtong-Darjeeling, Jorebungalow-Bijanbari, Rimbick-Srikhola and Lodhama-Manebhanjyang among others. They maintained that some road stretches had already been opened.
Apart from road blockages, several houses were damaged including one at Singtam Fatak where about six trees fell on the house.  
On the other hand, Kalimpong and Sikkim remained cut off from Siliguri with two alternate routes of NH 10 and Lava closed due to landslides. However, their vehicles were seen moving via Jorebunglow.
At Lava, roads have been blocked at 9th Mile area due to felling of trees where tourists were also stranded. Landslides were also reported from Lava-Gorubathan route which was opened for light vehicles in the evening. NH 10, on the other hand, has been closed due to landslide at 29th Mile and other places along the way.