About 1.5 crore people affected in State; losses total Rs. 14,000 crore

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday released for the first time the official figures of casualties in flood-like situations in the State.

The death toll had reached 152, she told reporters in Malda after visiting flood-hit areas.

Ms. Banerjee, who also visited Uttar and Dakhshin Dinajpur in north Bengal, said, “So far 152 people have died in Bengal. It is not a small figure. About 1.5 crore people have been affected in the State and the [property] damage is tentatively worth Rs. 14, 000 crore so far,” she said.

Out of the 1.5 crore affected people, 45 lakh were from Malda and Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur districts, she pointed out.

Report to Centre

“Compared to the floods in Gujarat and Assam, the floods in Bengal is not a minor one.” The State government would send a report to the Centre seeking funds, she said.

The District Magistrate of Malda had informed her that a dam had breached in Purnea district of Bihar as a result of which large areas of Itahar block in Uttar Dinajpur and Buniadpur area in Dakshin Dinajpur district were getting flooded, she said.

Ms. Banerjee denied reports of lack of flood relief material. She asserted that adequate relief material were being supplied. “In the districts of Malda, Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur alone, we have distributed 4 lakh tarpaulin sheets,” she said, adding that 32 boats were deployed in Malda.

Assam death Toll is 154

Meanwhile, with three more deaths on Monday, the death toll in Assam in the second phase of floods has gone up to 70 (since August 10). In the the first phase, between May and July, 84 people died, officials said.