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Bengal flood situation turns grim, 1.19 lakh people affected

KOLKATA: The flood in south-Bengal claimed at least 50 people, including four children, rendering a large number of people homeless. According to the disaster management department sources, more than 36 lakh people spreading over 12 districts were hit hard by the flood. The Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the state secretariat Nabanna to hold meetings on disaster-management and relief. She has postponed her north Bengal tour.Communication system got hit hard. Waterlogged tracks disrupted train services. Buses were withdrawn from majority of district roads. Buildings with weak structures collapsed in several areas, including in the city, due to overnight downpour.The rains triggered flood situation, affecting 12 districts, damaging nearly two lakh houses and rendering over a lakh people homeless. 4,72,645-hectre crop area got damaged. The state government has organized 1537 relief camps. 2,14,306 people were now staying at relief camps.Meanwhile, the regional Met office, Alipore, has a forecast of heavy to very heavy rains at a few places in the Gangetic and sub-Himalayan West Bengal till Tuesday. Fishermen have been warned not to venture out into the sea on the Bengal coast. The worst affected blocks are Khanakul, Arambagh, Goghat in Hooghly, Kandi in Murshidabad and Ghatal in West Midnapore."Several other districts, including North and South 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Burdwan, and Howrah were also affected. Disaster management teams are working on a war footing," Chief Minister said after the meeting. Many rivers flowing above the danger level, leaving the barrages at a breaking points.According to the government sources, the flood-situation is likely to worsen with DVC releasing 1 lakh cusec water on Sunday night. An alert district administrations has identified breaches at several embankments and started the process of evacuation of population living close to these embankments.An elderly man was crushed to death after a portion of his house collapsed here. A two-year-old was killed in Murshidabad district when a wall collapsed. A similar death was reported in Bankura. Padma Ghosh (40), Roshan Ali (28) and his brother Asgar Ali (14) were killed when the mud-wall of their house collapsed in Burdwan.In Burdwan, a number of rivers including Damodar, Ajay and Bhagirathi and its tributaries including Khari rivulet have been flowing above the danger level as thousands of bighas of land and crop are under water and several thousands of villagers marooned. The situation is worse in Ketugram, Katwa, Monteswar, Raina, Jamalpur, Bhatar blocks. At least four children were killed and four other people seriously injured after they were struck by lightning in Barasat in North Paraganas district on Sunday, police said.In Howrah, at three blocks – Amta –I, Jagatballavpur, Udaynaranpur – the district administration issued red-alert, with water flowing above danger level in Damodar. Jagatballavpur residents alleged that they did not receive any relief. Howrah district BJP president Tushar Kanti Das, who went to Udaynarayanpur with relief materials alleged, non-cooperation by the district administration. "It is unfortunate that the Trinamool government plays petty with relief work too," he said.In the neighboring district Hooghly, Arambagh, Goghat, Khanakul and Pursura a large area have gone submerged. At Goghat, Kamarpukur Ramkrishna Mission student Kajal Ghosh was swept away in Haldi river as he ventured out of his school hostel to witness the flood situation. His body was later retrieved. Arambagh sub-divisional officer Pratul Basu said, "We don’t know how the situation would be once DVC released more water." Three major rivers of the district -- Damodar, Mundeswari and Darakeswar and their rivulets were flowing above the danger level."Hooghly zila sabhadhipati Mehboob Rehman said, "15 blocks were affected by flood. We are anxious with situation at Tarakeswar, Polba , Pandua. At Tarakeswar temple, we need to erect wall to prevent water to flood the temple premises." District magistrate Moumita Basu said that the district authority ran 21 relief camps.In West Midnapore, Ghatal was the worst affected with rain continuing throughout the day. Already 3,000 houses collapaed and 37, 684 people were rendered homeless. In last three days, the distruct witnessed 436 mm rain and the flood situation got worsen with Galudi barrage in Jharkhand releasing 16,400 cusec water, Kanghshabati 11,000 cusec water and DVC 45,000 and Darakeswar 31,000 cusec water. Flood situation at Pingla, Garbeta, Narayangram are worsening fast.Panchayet and Public Health Engineering minister Subrata Mukherjee, who is currently camping in Midnapore to look after the flood-situation and relief work, crisscrossed Ghatal on boat to oversee the relief work. He was accompanied by the SP Bharati Ghosh and Zilla Sabhadhipati Uttara Singh Hazra.