By IANS,
Kolkata : The situation in six flood-hit West Bengal districts – which claimed six lives and affected 1.7 million people – was still grim though there were signs of some improvement after the rains slackened off, officials said.
However, the Kangsabati river continued to flow above the danger mark in East Midnapore.
With the rains easing up, there was no release of extra water from the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) reservoir in the past two days, a state government official said here Friday.
“The situation in both worst affected districts, Kolkata’s adjoining Howrah and Hooghly, is now under control. We’ve sent an adequate number of boats and other relief materials to the flood affected pockets,” said Dinesh Majumdar, an official of state Civil Defence.
District administration officials in East Midnapore’s Moyna block said several villages were inundated after the Kangsabati river breached embankments, while food and relief materials were air-dropped at Khanakul and Pursura of Hooghly district.
According to state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta, three people have died in Bankura, and one each in Udainaraynpur of Howrah district, and in Khanakul in West Midnapore district in the floods.
So far, 37,000 people have been evacuated from the inundated areas.
The floods were caused by a heavy discharge of water from the reservoirs of the DVC following heavy rains in the catchment areas. However, after requests from the state government, the outflow had been brought down to 1.1 lakh cusecs over the past two-three days.
According to sources, at least 236 relief camps have been set up in the affected districts to shelter the homeless.
Furthermore, more than 80 speed boats and 296 personnel of the civil defence were pressed into the relief operation.
Dasgupta said that Rs.15 crore has been sanctioned for carrying out relief operations. Moreover, twelve thousand tonnes of dry rations, one lakh tarpaulin sheets and two lakh pouches of drinking water have been dispatched to the flood-hit areas.