Told in the hills
A railway, a raft and a flood
The Teesta valley has always been the main way into these hills. In 1915 the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway opened its Teesta Valley Line, a narrow-gauge branch that ran from Siliguri up the river to Gielle Khola, with a station called Kalimpong Road serving the town above. It carried passengers and freight up the valley. Floods and landslides in 1950 badly damaged the line and it was never rebuilt. Lorries and jeeps on the highway took over.
In 1991 the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council began organised river rafting at Teesta Bazaar, and the town became a small adventure base. Then, on 4 October 2023, a glacial lake outburst flood from South Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim tore down the Teesta, destroying the Chungthang dam and damaging towns along the river, Teesta Bazaar among them. A new railway, the Sevoke–Rangpo line, is being cut through tunnels in the same valley, with a station planned at Teesta Bazaar.
Pinned to the board
Did you know
River rafting at Teesta Bazaar was introduced in 1991 by the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, now the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.
The meeting point of the Teesta and Rangeet rivers near Teesta Bazaar is known as Triveni.
Teesta Bazaar was badly hit by the glacial lake outburst flood of October 2023 that started at South Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim.
