Unregulated construction and tourism behind floods and landslides in north Bengal, warn experts

As rains triggered by remnants of cyclone ‘Motha’ lash north Bengal from Friday, October 31, 2025 and continue to lash the hills till Saturday, November 1, 2025, experts have warned that unregulated construction and tourism in this ecologically sensitive region has increased the risk of floods and landslides.

In early October, continuous rains in the region brought life to a halt, causing the death of more than 30 people and causing more than 110 major landslides.

Rivers are flowing near or above the danger mark in many parts of North Bengal, sparking panic among locals who are still recovering from the latest disaster. As the Balason River rises, a temporary bridge in Dudhia had to be closed due to safety concerns. The iron bridge over the river was damaged in the flood on October 5.

On October 5, the hills of West Bengal witnessed one of the worst natural disasters to affect the region in the last 30 years. Overflowing rivers and incessant downpour caused havoc in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, killing people and destroying houses, roads and bridges. While reconstruction of roads and bridges continues, many roads in the area remain closed.

Following the disaster in early October, West Bengal government officials, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, blamed unprecedented rain, poor flood management by the Central Government and excessive water flow in the Sankosh River from Bhutan and Sikkim for triggering the disaster.

Impending disaster: warn experts

However, experts believe that the incessant rain and water released from the dam may not be the only reason for the disaster that took many lives in the hills.

“Rivers, streams and waterfalls are the natural drainage system of a mountain, but they are blocked or redirected due to construction and heavy silt deposition. When these get blocked, flash floods can occur very easily as the carrying capacity of water bodies decreases,” said Partha Pratim Biswas, professor of civil engineering at Jadavpur University. Hindu.

Prof. Biswas raised questions as to why hotels are coming up on river banks and why construction is being allowed in these sensitive areas. He underlined that the craze for “unusual tourist destinations” has encouraged unregulated construction of hotels and guesthouses right next to rivers.

Experts added that the rainfall pattern has also changed due to global warming and climate change, leading to unprecedented heavy rainfall in a short time. Floods and landslides were triggered, as on the intervening night of October 4-5, when North Bengal received 261 mm of rainfall in just 12 hours. Experts said that to be prepared for such situations, the carrying capacity of rivers should also be increased by dredging, desilting and stopping construction on the most sensitive river banks.

“The slope of each hill is different, each slope needs to be examined scientifically, if the rock ground formation on the hill does not allow construction, we need to declare this place ‘closed for construction’, but there is no such regulation here,” added Prof. Biswas. He also warned that heavy construction on steep slopes makes both the hills and the structures unstable, and that when it rains, it could slide and crush the entire structure.

Deforestation of mountain forests has also become common to encourage easy construction of houses and hotels. However, Prof Biswas warned that tree roots act as natural geographical reinforcements, binding fragile mountain soil to prevent erosion and landslides, and once cut, mountains will quickly disintegrate.

Experts also warned against rapid construction of highways and tunnels in the hills of north Bengal to facilitate transportation for tourists and locals. “There needs to be a River Regulatory Zone (RRZ) of at least 200 meters along both banks of the river to ensure the natural flow and ecology of the river and maintain its flood carrying capacity. Therefore, when it rains and the river swells, it will inundate all the residents and houses built on the river bed,” warned Indrajit Roy Chowdhury, assistant professor of geography at the University of North Bengal.

Prof Roy Chowdhury also added that dams built along the Teesta River to promote renewable energy sources through hydropower projects have also reduced its carrying capacity.

Forward

“Unmonitored constructions in sensitive areas need to be checked to see if they follow government protocols to ensure sustainable tourism in ecologically sensitive areas,” said Samrat Sanyal, secretary of the Himalayan Hospitality Tourism Development Network. He also added that they had carried out a detailed survey in the mountains of North Bengal to see whether sensitive areas had exceeded their carrying capacity and submitted a report to the West Bengal government.

Tourism experts in the hills have called for a rethinking of a tourism model that encourages more sustainable and ecologically sound structures to prevent such disasters in future, which have caused loss of both lives and livelihoods this year.

Scientists also emphasized the urgent need to map the hills in North Bengal to see which hill supports which type of construction and impose strict regulations based on the findings to ensure that nature and people can coexist peacefully.

Prof. “We cannot continue to think only about profits. There is an urgent need to take a more holistic approach to promote sustainable tourism in the hills to avoid losing our nature and people to larger natural disasters,” added Roy Chowdhury.

It was published – 02 November 2025 08:29 IST