Some more areas in South Bengal got submerged after over 70,000 cusec of water was released from Durgapur Barrage on Saturday morning. According to sources, the water was released following heavy rainfall in neighbouring Jharkhand and Bihar. The areas that got submerged fall under the East Burdwan, Howrah, Hooghly, and Bankura districts of Bengal.
Schools have been shut in the Arambagh subdivision of Hooghly owing to rising water levels. Urgent repair work has also been undertaken along several river embankments in the Amta-Udaynarayanpur area of Howrah district.
The emerging flood situation in several areas of West Medinipur, Jhargram, and Purulia has worsened due to the release of a large amount of water from the Galudih reservoir in Jharkhand. New areas in Ghatal, Khadar, Garbeta, and Chandrakona have also gone under water owing to the swelling of the Shilabati and Jhumi rivers.
An emergency meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to review the flood situation in the state was held in Nabanna on Thursday.
According to sources, Public Health Engineering Minister Pulak Roy, who attended the meeting, has been asked to oversee the emerging flood situation in Amta and Udaynarayanpur of Howrah district.
Irrigation and Waterways Minister Manas Bhuiyan has been asked to visit flood-prone areas in Paschim Medinipur district.
Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim has been tasked with looking after flood-prone areas like Arambagh, Khanakul, and Goghat in Hooghly.
Whereas Labour Minister Malay Ghatak will go to Purulia and Bankura districts.
Members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the state disaster management department have been put on alert. Government sources said 24×7 control rooms have been opened in each flood-prone district.
Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone, Bhuiyan said, “There is torrential rain, the kind of rain which has not been witnessed by the people in the state since 1978. The heavy flow of water has affected certain embankments. We are working as a team to address the situation.”
He further said, “Over 50 rescue camps have been set up. We have arranged food, drinking water, medicine and other basic necessities… I am in Midnapore to keep a watch on the situation. We have no control over Tenughat and Galudih in Jharkhand. The Bengal chief minister is repeatedly saying that there should be joint control or unified command of Bengal and Jharkhand in these two reservoirs. That is not being accepted. The CM had also asked for the Centre’s intervention… We are alert and doing our best. We are asking DVC (Damodar Valley Corporation) and DVRRC (Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee) why they released water without informing us.”