Sandakphu, the highest point in the state, received a late winter snowfall on Wednesday morning while it rained across north Bengal bringing some relief to tea planters and farmers struggling with dry conditions.
Chandan Pradhan, the general secretary of the Singalila Land Rover Owners’ Association, said Sandakphu, situated at an altitude of 11,900ft, started receiving snowfall from around 4.30am.
“Later in the evening, it started raining in Sandakphu. There are tourists but there is no problem with communication. Some tourists are returning while others are going up,” said Pradhan.
Sandakphu received the season's first snowfall on December 7, 2023. Even though it had received snowfall on March 31 last year, snowfall during March is relatively rare.
A weather bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said there were a cyclonic circulation in the region and a trough from Jharkhand to south Assam, along with strong moisture incursions from the Bay of Bengal.
The present condition is likely to persist over north Bengal till Saturday while similar conditions will stay in south Bengal till Thursday.
The rain has, however, brought some relief to the tea industry.
“The rain is welcome but it has been delayed and the first flush tea has already been affected by less rain this year,” said Sandeep Mukherjee, the principal advisor of the Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA).
The first flush, which contributes about 20 per cent of the annual production, fetches the best price. “In many gardens, the leaves have not yet sprouted properly,” said Mukherjee.
Last year, the Darjeeling Tea industry produced 6.18 million kilograms of made tea, which was one of the lowest in the industry's more than 170 years of history.
Rupesh Pradhan, managing director, Mayukh Tea, which deals exclusively with Darjeeling Tea, said since October, Darjeeling had received rainfall only twice.
“Rainfall records show that it rained 0.20 inches on October 17 and 0.14 inches on December 8. The region has not received any substantial amount of rainfall since then,” said Pradhan, who added that Darjeeling had received around 0.50 inches of rainfall till 2pm.
