Gangtok learns what 8cm of water can wreak

A van seen through the floor of a garage which caved in at Indira
Byepass on Monday night taking the van along.

The slide below a power sub-station right above the iron bridge at Indira Byepass

The landslide below the power substation exposed a new cave, blocked the jhora 

The sewage lines servicing Gangtok gurgled on to the roads on Monday night and required
the collective efforts of UD&HD personnel to unclog the next morning

SAGAR CHHETRI
GANGTOK, 24 May: Heavy overnight downpour had Gangtok and its surrounding areas waking up to a rash of landslides today. IT is still only pre-monsoon showers, but enough to imperil houses in the capital, put another set in Singtam at risk and strand commuters on NH 31A for up to 4 hours last night.
The heavy rainfall triggered many small and big landslides damaging property and causing threat to many residents in the Upper Sichey area of Gangtok, which were inspected by the Gangtok Mayor, KN Topgay, Upper Sichey Councilor, NB Chettri and SDM [East], Dr AB Karki early this morning.  
The retaining wall of a private garage belonging to MB Thapa on Bye-Pass road at Upper Sichey caved into the jhora along side, taking along with a van kept inside it for repairs. It is informed that the neighbours were able to take out other vehicles kept in the garage.

The SDM informs that this landslide has also damaged the power sub-station above the road and also weakened the bridge here which was hit by the debris.
“We have already informed the SDPO Traffic and Divisional Engineer [Road and Bridges] to verify the status of the bridge and monitor traffic,” Dr Karki said.
Likewise, the sewage line at Fish Pond Jhora was also damaged here along with the jhora due to the landslide.
Another landslide at the Devi Than Jhora site, a short distance above, off the feeder road to Paljor Stadium has threatened 5 houses above the slide, again in Upper Sichey.
The SDM informed that as a temporary and immediate measures, the slide will be covered by the tarpaulin sheets and the five families residing in the imperiled houses, to temporarily relocate.
Apart from these major slides, there were many small landslides all along the Bye-Pass road, damaged power and telephone lines and road sections at several places.
The Gangtok Meteorological Centre has recorded a rainfall of 7.9 cm over Gangtok and 8.3 cm over Tadong, which is considered ‘heavy rainfall’.
The Met Office informs that an upper air trough flowing from East Madhya Pradesh to Nagaland over Bihar and Sub Himalayan West Bengal was responsible for last night’s rainfall.
It is informed that, the trough was cleared by the overnight rainfall and now only moderate rainfall is expected.