KOLKATA: More than 16 lakh people are affected in flash floods that have inundated vast areas in West Bengal’s Paschim and Purbo Medinipur districts following torrential rains over the past two days. Four people were killed and three reported missing in the two districts, according to reports reaching here on Wednesday.
Among those missing was a former assistant of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. One person died in South 24 Parganas district.
The Army was called in for rescue and relief operations and the services of the Indian Air Force were also requisitioned.
Reviews situation
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee reviewed the situation in the two districts with the Ministers concerned and senior officials. Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta was among those present.
Later, at another round of discussions held by Dr. Dasgupta, it was decided that Rs. 2.5 crore be allotted for relief and restoration.
A compensation of Rs. 1 lakh would be paid to the next of kin of those killed.
Dr. Dasgupta attributed the floods to an abnormally heavy rainfall of 700 mm in the region over the past three days and heavy discharge from a reservoir in “a neighbouring [Jharkhand] State.”
Of those marooned, 53,000 people were rescued so far and 40,000 provided shelter in relief camps, he said.
A powerful speedboat and four divers were sent to the affected areas from the IAF base in Kalaikunda, said the defence spokesman, Group Captain R.K. Das.
South Eastern Railway services were severely affected. Twelve trains including the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express and the Howrah-Mumbai Special were cancelled, and a few others regulated in different sections and run on a diverted route.PTI reports from Bhubaneswar:
In Orissa, two casualties were reported in Mayurbhanj district on Wednesday, taking the death toll in rain-related incidents to four.
A three-year-old boy was killed after a tree fell on his thatched house at Betanati and a seven-year-old girl died in wall collapse at Rairangpur, official sources said.Rains continued to throw normal life out of gear with a number of trains being either cancelled or diverted owing to submergence of the track.
Balasore district on the West Bengal-Orissa border was also hit with over 50 villages in the Baliapal, Basta and Bhogarai blocks badly affected.
The swollen Subarnarekha was set to touch the danger level of 10.36 metres at Rajghat, the sources said.
While the Jalaka was already flowing 1.75 metres above the danger level of 5.5 metres, the Sona, the Jambhira and the Gangahar were also in spate.
About half-a-dozen trains, including Dhauli Express and the Jana Shatabdi Express, which run between Howrah and Bhubaneswar, were cancelled.
Special Correspondent reports from Guwahati:
The Assam government has blamed the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) for the flood havoc in Lakhimpur district.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the government had information that Saturday’s flash floods were caused by release of water by the public sector company from the Ranganadi hydel project dam in Arunachal Pradesh without warning. NEEPCO, however, denied the charge.
Over 3 lakh people were affected by the flash floods in Lakhimpur district. Over 51,000 houses were damaged and about 100 metres of National Highway 52 was washed away.
<<back
