teaHe has ignored warnings raised in recent years that a combination of climate change and human behavior could spell disaster for North Bengal’s fragile ecosystem. The costs were high, as on October 5-6 a disaster of enormous proportions struck this mountainous region, its lush foothills (the Douar Mountains) and alluvial plains fed by fast-flowing rivers. Heavy rain of over 300 mm in 12 hours triggered hundreds of landslides in Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling districts. Rivers have breached their embankments, roads have been blocked, and villages have been cut or destroyed. The list of human miseries includes more than 40 dead and 10,000 people housed in relief camps. “Of the 32 livestock I had, 22 have died or disappeared. At least 70 families have been affected in our tea garden,” says Sikander Majhi, 41, a resident of Tandu tea garden in Nagrakata block of Jalpaiguri district. North Bengal too has been forewarned. On October 4, 2023, a glacial lake burst flood in Sikkim overwhelmed the Teesta III dam and wreaked havoc downstream.