Flood situation in the southern part of West Bengal remained grim on Sunday with the death toll nearing 50 while 2.14 lakh people have taken shelter in 1,537 relief camps in the 12 districts affected by the deluge. The weatherman has forecast more rains for the next 24 hours.

With nine more deaths being reported from different districts on Sunday, the death toll from rains and floods climbed to 48, Disaster Management Department sources said.

"Altogether 1,537 relief camps have been set up to shelter over 2.14 lakh marooned people and 204 medical camps have been opened," the sources said adding that the total number of affected people was nearly 37 lakh.

The sources said that 38,046 houses were damaged and 2,05,901 houses were damaged partly. Crop over an area of 4,72,645 hectares was damaged due to the floods.

See more photos: Floods wreck havoc in country

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday held a meeting with senior officials at the state secretariat to review the situation. She told reporters that she had instructed the officials to monitor the situation round-the-clock and take prompt appropriate steps.

"Even though there was reduced rainfall today, the situation remained unchanged in Burdwan, Hooghly, Howrah, West Midnapore and East Midnapore districts as the quantum of release of water from different barrages remained almost the same following heavy rains in upper catchment areas," state Irrigation Minister Rajib Banerjee said.

The districts of South 24-Parganas, North 24-Parganas, Nadia and Murshidabad districts were the other badly affected areas, he said.

"The situation remained unchanged in the affected districts mainly because of high tide and release of water from different barrages. However, the situation is likely to improve from tomorrow," Banerjee said.

According to an Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) release here, heavy to very heavy rain might occur at isolated places of Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, Bardhaman, Howrah, East and West Midnapur districts of Gangetic West Bengal.

On Monday, heavy rainfall was likely at isolated places over Gangetic West Bengal, Sub Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, it warned. The sea would be rough along and off the West Bengal coasts, the IMD on Sunday said and asked fishermen to be cautious while venturing out in the waters.

Read Also: Flood threat looms large in Odisha



The chief minister, who had visited the affected areas in Udainarainpur in Howrah district on Saturday, is likely to go to more flood-affected areas soon, state secretariat sources said. Banerjee instructed a number of ministers and senior officials to visit the affected areas and supervise relief arrangement.

The situation in the city improved on Sunday with rain water receding from most areas which went under water after deluge since Friday. Over the two days, the city recorded rainfall measuring 170mm due to cyclone Komen.

Water has receded from places in Central Avenue, Amherst Street, Camac Street, Swinhoe, Street, Lansdowne Market areas, Alipore by last night itself, member mayoral council (drainage) Tarak Singh said.

"Waterlogging is still there at added areas in ward no 122, 125, 126. Our officers are there," he added.

Meanwhile, one person was killed after a two-storeyed building in Gariahat collapsed last night, the police said.

Read Also: 22 killed as heavy rains lash Gujarat, normal life hit



Normal train services at Howrah and Sealdah sections of Eastern Railway have been restored with removal of water from the tracks, said ER CPRO, Ravi Mahapatra. The city's underground Metro Railway service also ran normally, said Mahapatra, who is also Metro Railway CPRO.

Normal train services have also been restored under South Eastern Railways. Movement of the trains was a bit slow as tracks at some places were still submerged, the SER CPRO Sanjay Ghosh said.

Life thrown out of gear in Manipur



Normal life in the state has been badly hit by incessant rains. At least 21 people were killed after the heavy downpour triggered a landslide in Khenjoy. Continuous rains in the region hit landslide is hampering the relief and rescue work. The state administration said every step is being taken to provide relief to the affected people.

Situation improves in Odisha

Though the flood situation in Odisha improved significantly, the inflow of rain water from the neighbouring West Bengal caused marooning of 10 more villages in the bordering Balasore district.

"All the major rivers in the state are flowing below the danger level. However, inflow of rain water from West Bengal, where heavy rainfall occurred under the effect of cyclonic system Komen, has caused marooning of some more villages in Balasore district," special relief commissioner (SRC) G V V Sarma said.

As per reports received from the Collectors of the concerned districts, the SRC said about 4.79 lakh people of 597 villages under 15 Blocks and one ULB in five districts namely Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Bhardak and Balasore have been affected by the current spell of flood.



Four minors among 5 drowned in heavy rains in Rajasthan

Five persons, including four teenage boys, have drowned in different parts of Rajasthan which was lashed by heavy rains. The South-West monsoon shifted its centre over Bikaner division in the last 24 hours as Karanpur city recorded 5 cm of rainfall till 8:30 am on Sunday , the maximum in the state, officials said. At least a dozen villages remained inundated in Sanchore tehsil due to incessant rains, which reduced since Friday, officials added.

A Sirohi district official said the Abu-Road and Mount Abu (hill station) road, which was damaged by shooting stones due to heavy rains, was still under repair and traffic was not allowed on the route yet.

The civil administration has pressed 25 rescue and relief teams into action in Sanchor and Bheenmal tehsils, covering a dozen of villages, the official said.

Army rescue operation in Rajastha, Gujarat on



From restoring railway tracks to rescuing a drowning mother and her baby, and even a dog, the Army and Air Force personnel have come handy in the flood-hit areas of Gujarat and in neighbouring. Troops of Southern Command and South Western Command have been involved in rescue operations in flood-affected areas of Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan.

"They have evacuated more than 1,000 people to safer area and provided relief items such as food, drinking water and medicines and medical cover to over 2,400 people. A total of 28 relief teams, seven medical teams and seven ETFs (Engineer Task Forces) were deployed," Army sources said.

The Army Flood Relief Columns are located in Banaskantha and Bhuj in Gujarat, and Chirpatiya, Dhanera and Sanchor in Rajasthan.

Of the many stories of bravery that have come out, the act of Havaldar Yousouf stands out as he rescued a drowning mother and her baby in Shervo village, situated approximately 50 kms north of Bhuj in Kutch district of Gujarat.

Due to heavy rains and floods in the region from July 27 to July 30, the lone connecting road to Shervo from Hudco village was severely damaged and hence all communication and supplies were cut off.

A team from the Army as well as Gujarat Police was tasked with relief and evacuation on July 31. The evacuation began in the afternoon and about 200 villagers including 17 infants and 32 children had to be evacuated on foot.

The nearest village was 13 kms away with several cuts on the road and fast flowing water on either side. Villagers were made to cross these cuts with the help of a rope and a human chain formed by the troops against the flow of water.

The Indian Air Force too came to the rescue of the flood affected people with the force doing multiple sorties for flying people to safer areas and dropping thousands of food packets.