Alipurduar, July 17 (Siliguri Chronicle) – A private bus carrying 42 people, including 20 school students, was caught in a sudden flash flood while crossing the Bangri River in West Bengal’s Alipurduar district on Wednesday morning. The bus was en route from Totopara to Madarihat when the river’s water level rose sharply.
The strong current caused the vehicle to drift for some distance, triggering panic among passengers. After a tense wait, the water level began to recede, allowing those on board to escape. All passengers managed to scramble out and reach the riverbank safely.
Later in the afternoon, an excavator was brought in to recover the bus, which had its front portion stuck in sand and silt on the riverbed.
The incident took place near Totopara, a remote village in the Birpara-Madarihat block of Alipurduar district. Totopara is home to the Toto tribe, a small indigenous community recognized by the government as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
The village is located about 22 km from Madarihat and 59 km from Alipurduar, the district headquarters.
To reach Totopara from Madarihat, one must cross six to seven rivers and four to five streams, most of which originate in Bhutan. With no bridges along the route, vehicles usually drive through the riverbeds, which are typically dry or have only knee-deep water.
According to sources, the private bus leaves Totopara around 9:30 a.m. every day, carrying school students and other passengers.
Nearly 80 students travel daily between Totopara and Madarihat.
“Today (Wednesday), there were 42 passengers, including around 20 students, on board. The bus crossed the dry beds of some streams and rivers like Titi and Haori. However, as it reached the riverbed of the Bangri river, which is around 13km from Totopara (9km from Madarihat), there was a flash flood around 10.15am,” said Mohan Saha, the bus owner.
Due to the flash flood, the river’s water level rose sharply. The driver attempted to steer the vehicle out of the water but was unsuccessful.
“The wheels stopped working as the water suddenly rose. The water currents pushed our bus around 30 metres downstream. We were really scared as our bus had turned into a boat,” said Kirtan Toto, a schoolboy seated in the bus.
The “floating” bus eventually came to a stop when its front wheels sank into the sand.
“We sat inside the bus as it was no longer floating downstream. After almost an hour, the water level receded, and we jumped off on the bank,” Kirtan added.
Totopara residents said that every monsoon they face this problem. “Often, we had to wait near the riverbank till the water levels receded. The administration and the state government should look into the issue and think of improving the connectivity to Totopara,” said a resident of the village.
The soaked students were later dropped home in smaller vehicles. Although none of the passengers was injured, many students were left worried about how they would attend school on Thursday, as the bus had been damaged.
Residents of Madarihat said only one private bus operates between Madarihat and Totopara twice a day. In January 2025, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation had introduced a bus service on the route, but it was discontinued just two months later, in March.
As news of the incident spread, a police team led by Ashim Majumder, officer-in-charge of Madarihat police station, arrived on the opposite bank of the river.
The police arranged for an excavator to pull the bus from the wet riverbed, after which it was taken to Madarihat.
“We have passed an alert so that people abstain from taking risks such as crossing the rivers and streams during monsoons. Due to rainfall in the upper catchments, such flash floods occur, and people, ignorant of the rainfall in other areas, try to cross streams and rivers to get caugh in flash floods,” said a police officer.
Residents recalled a similar incident on May 29 last year, when Asha S. Bomjan, former sabhapati of the Madarihat panchayat samiti and a Totopara resident, was stranded in her SUV at Dayamara, a stream along the same route, due to a nighttime flash flood.
Asha and her driver had to climb onto the roof of the vehicle as nearly half of it was submerged. They later jumped into the water and swam to a nearby tree on the riverbank, where they held on for safety. At dawn, local residents, police, and forest officials rescued them after the water level went down.
