Cyclone Aila (26May2009) vs GLOF (04Oct2023) : Photos of Teesta river at Teesta Bazar

Cyclone AILA was a huge disaster event which impacted Darjeeling- Kalimpong districts between 24May and 26May2009 when it dumped 247mm of rain in Darjeeling in 24hrs. 17 people lost their lives in the storm. STH tracked the cyclone and has blogged extensively about it in May and June2009. (See 1, 2, 3).

In order to understand the magnitude of both these disaster events I have placed photos of the impact on the Teesta river, taken from approximately the same location on the Teesta bridge in May2009 and in Oct2023.

Photos of the Teesta river of 2009 were courtesy Mr Naren Tamang of Kalimpong TV and taken DURING the storm - please note no major dams were operating upstream in the Teesta valley then.

Photos of the GLOF event were taken by me on 10Oct2023, 6 days after the the GLOF event.

Cyclone AILA (26May2009): Photo of homes close to the river bank almost directly below the Teesta bridge. The Teesta - Darjeeling road is intact and was not touched by the river during Cyclone AILA.

GLOF (10Oct2023): Image of almost the same area, 6 days after the GLOF event. Note the level of the river vis-a-vis the level of Teesta -Darjeeling road.

Cyclone AILA (26May2009): Teesta river (looking north). No major dams were operating then and settlements of Teesta bazar near or on the bank were minimal.

GLOF (10Oct2023): Teesta river (looking north). Almost the same scene but 14 years later. Note the density of the settlements on the river bank - many such homes were swept away

Cyclone AILA (26May2009): Photo of Teesta from the bridge (looking south). The Teesta to Darjeeling road (extreme right) is considerably higher than the river and was not damaged by AILA.

GLOF (10Oct2023): Photo of Teesta from the bridge (looking south).The level of the Teesta is so much higher and parts of the Teesta to Darjeeling road are under water.

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya
savethehills@gmail.com
9475033744

Thanks to Naren bhai for the images of Cyclone AILA