We may forget, but nature does not

It began like a whisper — a faint drizzle on tin rooftops, the sound of rain on the leaves, the quiet promise of a monsoon that had overstayed its welcome.

- SANTANU BASU

By dawn, that whisper had turned into a roar. Hills crumbled, rivers rose, and the people of North Bengal once again stood face to face with the fury of nature.

It was October 2025, but to the older generation, the date felt eerily familiar. The flood had come again - in the same week, the same month, as it had fifty-seven years ago, in October 1968, and again in 2023. The Teesta had returned, carrying memories of every life it once took, and every warning we chose to forget.

The first great flood that scarred Jalpaiguri’s memory began on 2 October 1968. It rained relentlessly for days - not just in Jalpaiguri, but also in Maynaguri, Domohani, and across the upper Teesta basin. On the night of 4 October, the river burst its banks without warning.

In those days, Jalpaiguri was a small, quiet town of one-story houses and tin roofs. At around 2 a.m., water rushed in through the Karala River, and within minutes, the Teesta swallowed entire neighborhoods. Bridges broke, roads vanished, and homes were swept away like toys.

The official records spoke of numbers - 216 lives lost, 345 houses destroyed, 1,370 cattle drowned - but for those who survived, it was more than statistics. It was the night the Teesta changed from a lifeline to a curse. The bridge connecting Jalpaiguri to the Dooars was torn apart, cutting offthe region for weeks. Even decades later, elders still speak of that night with a trembling voice -a memory soaked in fear and rain.

Fast forward to 3 October 2023, when a distant glacier in North Sikkim’s South Lhonak Lake gave way, releasing millions of cubic meters of water, rock, and ice. The resulting Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) unleashed a torrent that tore through the Teesta basin. The river rose by nearly 60 feet, sweeping away everything in its path — bridges, homes, hydropower plants, and people.