Flood looms large

West Bengal braced for flood in its gangetic plains as,after a brief lull,heavy rain lashed the state from north to south.

*Major rivers across state flow above danger mark and cause largescale inundation as downpour refuses to stop

West Bengal braced for flood in its gangetic plains as,after a brief lull,heavy rain lashed the state from north to south. Major rivers are in spate resulting in largescale inundation in several districts Howrah,Burdwan,Hooghly,West Midnapore and East Midnapore in south,and Malda,Murshidabad and Jalpaiguri in north. Besides heavy downpour,the release of water from Maithon and Panchet reservoirs by Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) has led to worsening of the situation. Since Tuesday,the DVC released 82,850 cusecs of from its two reservoirs. On Wednesday morning,4,000 cusecs of water were released from Maithon reservoir and another 58,000 cusecs from Panchet. As a result,the water level in rivers like Damodar,Dwarakeshwar,Kangshabati and Rupnarayan have increased dramatically,threatening a flood-like situation in the districts along them.

Chota Nagpur plateau has been receiving incessant rainfall and there has been an alarming increase in the water level in the rivers. Our engineers at Maithon and Panchet reservoirs have been coordinating with West Bengal government officials and have been providing feedback to irrigation and disaster management departments, said S Prasad,Additional Secretary,DVC.

He added that more water is likely to be released by Durgapur barrage leading to further rise in Ajoy and Dwarakeshwar rivers.

DVC officials added that more water is likely to be released on account of further rainfall,which will inevitably increase water level in Kansai,Silaboti,Subarnarekha,Keleghai and Kapaleswari rivers .

There has been no comforting news from Met Department either. Alipore Meteorological Department said that the Gangetic plains,including Kolkata,will continue to receive heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile,the government said reports of breach in embankments have come from several places in north and south districts.

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A major breach of 385-metre was caused in the embankment of the Brahmani rivers right bank in Birbhum district,and of this,100-metre breach was of serious nature,threatening with inundation large areas,said Irrigation Minister Manas Bhuniya.

Breaches were reported from Marpur under Rampurhat block-II,Pitidanaga village under Nalhati-II in Birbhum district. Rising Mayureswari river has caused a wide breach on its embankment in Murshidabad district,he added. Embankments have also been breached in North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas districts.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,who is personally monitoring the situation,said her government is coordinating with the Centre. She said that the Central government has been informed about the ground situation and deployment of central forces for relief and rescue operations was under consideration.

The situation is a matter of concern. We are trying hard to prevent the floods and bring the situation under control, said the chief minister at the Writers Buildings where a round-the clock monitoring cell has been set up.

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All all the districts have been put on alert. Our disaster management and relief teams are ready and we are keeping constant track of the areas along Damodar. Many areas have already been inundated and most of the people have been moved to buildings and shelters. We have also arranged for dry food and plastic sheets,said a senior district administration official in Bankura.

Districts like East Midnaopore and West Midnapore which are mostly flood prone are also checking the embankments to avoid any breaches. Till Tuesday,West Midnapore had received nearly 70 mm of rainfall.

WITH PTI INPUTS

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