West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed her concern over the flood-like conditions prevailing in the state. She informed that approximately 10,000 individuals have been successfully rescued and are currently accommodated in 190 relief camps spread across nine districts in both the southern and northern regions of the state, as reported by PTI.
Despite her ongoing recovery from a leg injury, Banerjee assured that she is personally overseeing the situation continuously from her residence. In order to manage the flood situation effectively, she has also announced the cancellation of leaves for several state government officials.
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose is scheduled to visit the flood-affected districts in the northern part of the state on Thursday.
The northern part of West Bengal shares a border with Sikkim, which experienced a flash flood in the Teesta River, resulting in at least 10 fatalities, numerous injuries, and around 80 individuals missing.
During a meeting to assess the situation, Banerjee instructed Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi and Home Secretary BP Gopalika to promptly dispatch a team of senior officials to the flood-affected areas of West Bengal. She stated, “We have already rescued 10,000 people from low-lying areas in the districts. Already SDRF and NDRF teams have been alerted. I will monitor the situation 24/7 from home with a leg injury which may require another week to recover.”
A total of 5,800 people were evacuated from Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Cooch Behar districts in the northern part of the state, while 5,018 others were rescued in Howrah, Hooghly, Paschim Medinipur, Purulia, and Bankura districts in the south, according to a statement from the state government.
Banerjee also instructed Dwivedi to establish a 24-hour control room for individuals to report complaints related to the flood.
The statement noted that the NH-10, connecting Sikkim’s capital Gangtok and Siliguri, the largest city in northern West Bengal, has been completely washed away near the Likhuvir-Setijhora stretch. Immediate repairs will be undertaken once the water recedes in Teesta.
The chief minister emphasized the opening of sufficient relief camps in the state and urged affected individuals not to take any chances but to seek refuge in these shelters. A total of 28 relief camps were established in the northern part of the state and 190 in the south.
Governor Bose, who arrived in New Delhi from Kochi on Wednesday evening, will return to Kolkata early Thursday morning and proceed directly to north Bengal to assess the flood situation, according to a Raj Bhavan official.
Bose spoke to Governors of several neighboring states of West Bengal, including Sikkim, over the phone to gain a better understanding of the flood situation. The official stated, “The governor also sought details of the situation from West Bengal Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi regarding the situation and also inquired about the precautionary measures taken by the state government.”
The chief minister mentioned that parts of South 24 Parganas districts, the Sunderbans, and Sagar Island were also affected by the floods.
“The 24/7 Control Room at (state secretariat) Nabanna is functional and can be contacted at (033)22143526 and 1070. Another 24/7 Control Room (with numbers 1800-212-1655 & 91-9051888171) at the Tourism Department is functional… The state administration has also started integrated control rooms in all districts,” the state government stated in the release.
Senior ministers Partha Bhowmick, Arup Biswas, Udayan Guha, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Chairman Anit Thapa, and senior bureaucrats rushed to North Bengal to oversee the rescue and relief operations.
The statement highlighted that “More than 8,000 cubic meters per second of water has been released from Teesta barrage, which has resulted in flood-like situations in the downstream districts of Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Cooch Behar.”
The heavy rainfall in southern Bengal and neighboring Jharkhand can be attributed to the formation of a low-pressure area in the region. Additionally, the situation has been exacerbated by a substantial release of water from the DVC barrages at Maithon and Panchet, as well as the reservoirs in Mukutmanipur. This has had a significant impact on several districts, including Bankura, Howrah, Hooghly, Paschim Medinipur, and South 24 Parganas, leading to concerns about flooding and water-related issues in these areas.
