Kolkata, Oct 9 (IANS) With the recovery of more bodies in the last 24 hours, the death toll in the hills, Terai and Dooars regions in North Bengal, devastated by heavy rainfall and landslides, reached 39 on Thursday, as per the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the district administrations in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri.

Administrative officials apprehend that the death toll might rise further in the next couple of days as rescue operations continue in the remote areas.

A district administration official pointed out that the official death figure was 36 as of Tuesday morning, and during that day, there was no recovery of more bodies. “However, during the last 24 hours, three more bodies were found, thus taking the death figure to 39. Two of the three bodies recovered during the last 24 hours were carried by the flowing water of the Jaldhaka River,” the district administrative official said.

The bodies recovered during the last 24 hours are yet to be identified.

With the weather conditions in the region now stable, the pace of relief, rescue, and restoration operations has picked up during the last 24 hours. Several damaged roads have been repaired, and even some of the popular trekking routes in the hills of the region, including the most popular Sandakphu route, have been reopened for the trekkers.

Insiders from the district administration said that the main challenge now is the complete restoration of the electricity supply in the hills, the work for which is going on at a war footing.

“Although electricity connections have been restored in certain pockets in the hills, the work has not been completed for a larger area. The officials of the state power department are working on a war footing to complete the full restoration process at the earliest,” said the district administration officials.

Meanwhile, a political slugfest has erupted with the opposition accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of refraining from going to the most badly affected areas in the hills during her two-day visit to North Bengal on Monday and Tuesday. The opposition parties have accused the Chief Minister of restricting her movement in the comparatively normal places in the plans. However, there was no counter-reaction from Trinamool Congress on the allegations.

–IANS

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