Army rushes to flood-hit Bengal

Rains wreaked havoc in the east and the army was rushed to two flood-hit districts in West Bengal while Orissa alerted the Air Force.

Rains wreaked havoc in the east and the army was rushed to two flood-hit districts in West Bengal while Orissa alerted the Air Force. In Jharkhand, too, the army was called to tackle the situation that has affected nearly 25 lakh people.

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Five persons have died in West Bengal and four in Orissa due to the torrential rains, officials said.

Three army columns were rushed to Bengal’s West and East Midnapore districts — over 700mm rainfall has lashed the two areas in the past three days — as an IAF helicopter made an aerial survey of the affected areas, state Finance Minister Ashim Dasgupta said. If necessary, food would be airdropped from tomorrow.

In Orissa, the government alerted the Air Force for relief and rescue operations. Describing the situation in four districts, particularly in Balasore as “grim”, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Manmohan Samal said nearly 1.5 lakh people have been affected due to the flash floods.

In the northeast, the situation showed some signs of improvement in Assam with cessation of rain as Lakhimpur, where 22 people have died, and Dhemaji districts remained cut off following the breach of NH 52.

In the north, Himacahal Pradesh’s Guler town in Kangra district recorded 110 mm of rain overnight followed by 94 mm in Shimla town, the Met Office said. In Uttar Pradesh, two persons were killed in Mainpuri district in a wall collapse incident.