Parts of Bengal face flood-like situation after heavy rains
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s advisor Alapan Bandyopadhyay said 10 Indian Administrative Service officers have been asked to monitor the situation
West Bengal’s Howrah, Hooghly, Birbhum, West Midnapore, East Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura, Purulia, West Burdwan, and East Burdwan districts face a flood-like situation after the release of water from dams following heavy rains in West Bengal and Jharkhand.
“There have been heavy rains and the DVC [Damodar Valley Corporation which operates a multipurpose river project in West Bengal and Jharkhand] has been releasing water from Panchet Dam on River Damodar and Maithon Dam on River Barakar,” said Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s advisor.
A deep depression over the Gangetic West Bengal triggered heavy rains in south Bengal over the weekend and on Monday. The weather system moved to Jharkhand on Monday.
Bandyopadhyay said large areas in multiple districts across South Bengal were likely to get inundated. “The state government has deputed 10 senior IAS [Indian Administrative Service] officers and asked them to visit the districts to monitor the situation,” said Bandyopadhyay.
The district administrations have been asked to prepare flood shelters, adequate drinking water, medicines, and dry food. They have been asked to evacuate people from low-lying areas if needed. Officials said that Banerjee and the chief secretary were monitoring the situation.
Banerjee spoke to her Jharkhand counterpart, Hemant Soren, over the situation on Monday. “Even the water level in the Adi Ganga has shot up. I have never seen so much water in Adi Ganga. DVC released a huge amount of water. People have been requested to move to flood shelters. A few people got trapped at Khanakul in Hooghly district,” Banerjee said.