India, Oct. 30 -- The India Meteorological Department on Thursday issued a red alert for four flood-hit districts in north Bengal - Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar - with warnings of heavy rains and landslides on Friday.

Severe cyclonic storm 'Montha' has weakened into a low pressure and was lying over Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as of Thursday morning, but the weather system is expected to trigger heavy to very heavy rains in the four districts, with extremely heavy rains in some areas.

"Heavy to very heavy rain is expected in the four districts, with extremely heavy rain in or two places over Jalpaiguri. A red alert has been issued for the four districts from Friday morning to Saturday morning," said a senior IMD ...