Church, homes damaged in Kalimpong mudslide

Kalimpong: A church and at least four houses in 29th Mile on NH-10 were damaged by mudslide triggered by heavy thundershowers on Thursday morning. The sludge left behind was spread over a stretch of nearly 30 metres and was about 4.5 feet high.
As a result, vehicle movement on the highway was stopped since Thursday early morning. One-way traffic could be resumed only in the evening.
It started raining heavily around 1am on Thursday and lasted for nearly two hours.Some residents of 29th Mile had to flee with their children, but they could not save their belongings. The sludge now covers everything in their homes. PWD highway contractor Krishna Gupta said, “We reached the spot around 8am. The road was entirely choked and we needed the entire day to clear up the sludge and restore traffic.”
A truck on Army duty was also stuck in the mudslide. The driver managed to escape unhurt. In Kalimpong, the rainfall was recorded to be around 70 mm in less than 2 hours.