Jalpaiguri, July 15: Heavy overnight rain in Jalpaiguri district has left several areas flooded and two river embankments with cracks because of the sudden rise in water levels. The areas worst affected are the blocks of Banarhat, Dhupguri, Nagrakata and Jalpaiguri Sadar where over 700 homes are under water. According to sources in the flood control room here, the rainfall measured between 8.30pm yesterday and 8.30am today showed that Nagrakata had received 182mm, Banarhat 220mm and Jalpaiguri town 29mm and Gajoldoba 288mm. Sources in the meteorological office in Jalpaiguri said more heavy rainfall is forecast in the next 24 hours. In Jalpaiguri, the Teesta flooded low-lying areas in Jalpaiguri Sadar and Rajganj blocks, irrigation department sources said. According to the CPM gram panchayat pradhan of Gadhearkuthi in Dhupguri, Gajendranath Roy, the embankment of the Jaldhaka gave way. Over a hundred families had to seek shelter at a primary school as their homes went under water. “The situation was alarming and water began to enter the village late at night forcing the families to shift,” the pradhan said. In Banarhat, sources said the Sukriti river and the Hatinala Jhora have inundated Shantipara in the Subhasnagar police station area and the Hatinala forest village. Soumedra Dutraj, the block development officer of Dhupguri, said many families have shifted to safer areas. “We are arranging for relief for them and they will return home once the water recedes. We are hopeful the water will go down as the rain stopped this morning.” The water of the Teesta has also overflowed and affected parts of Rajganj and Jalpaiguri Sadar. Swapan Sarkar, a resident of Saradapally area just outside Jalpaiguri town, said: “The Teesta flows past our home. After midnight, we went out with torches to the embankment and saw how the water was rising. We stayed up all night and around 10am today our area got flooded and water entered our homes.” The executive engineer of the district irrigation department, Asim Chowdhury, said the rising water in the Teesta-Mahananda link canal re-entered the Teesta causing the river level to rise. “We have issued the red signal in the Teesta command area and a watch is being kept on the situation,” he said. Narayan Chowdhury, the chairman of the North Bengal Flood Control Commission, who went around the affected areas in Banarhat, Nagrakata Kumargram and other areas, said: “There has been a breach of about 150m on the embankment of the Reti in Banarhat and another minor one on the Jaldhaka in Dhupguri. We cannot plug them till the water recedes.” An embankment breach on the Mahananda on the outskirts of Siliguri and landslides occurred at spots on highways leading to Darjeeling and Kalimpong. District officials said the slides happened on the Rohini Road and the Pankhabari Road. “There was a landslide on Rohini Road which is being cleared. At Pankhabari, two landslides were reported, one near Makaibari Tea Estate and another in Satghumtee, 10km apart and around 50km from Darjeeling,” an official said. “In Pankhabari, the road has sunk in at a small stretch. A portion of the debris has been cleared but right now, only small vehicles are moving through the route.”