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West Bengal flood toll rises to 450

The flood toll in West Bengal has risen to 450, with 179 people reported missing on Tuesday afternoon.

The worst affected districts are Birbhoom and Murshidabad, where 200 and 184 people have been reported dead. Of 17 million people affected, 4.7 million are from Murshidabad and one million from Birbhoom. According to the state relief ministry, about 3.4 million people in Nadia have been rendered homeless.

The floods, spread over 144 blocks and 37 municipalities, have washed away over five million houses in the state.

State Relief Minister S R Mahto told rediff.com, "The situation is grave, especially in Nadia, after flood water began entering the Chuni river from Murshidabad, compounding the woes of those marooned."

Principal relief secretary P S Inty said the state government was carrying out relief operations on a war-footing. According to him, while the situation in Kurshidabad was stable, additional discharge of water from the DVC Farakka barrage had worsened the situation in neighbouring Nadia district.

"We do not know if water was released from Nadia, but the DVC has discharged 50 cusecs of water on Tuesday morning, which inundated a swathe of Nadia. Fifteen people are reported dead in Nadia, while nine are missing. In Burdwan, 27 people have lost their lives. The death toll in Hooghly, Howrah and Midnapore is 12, two and one respectively," Inty said.

The relief secretary also warned that a large part of Calcutta, North 24 Parganas and Howrah may be inundated by Tuesday evening. It was, he added, primarily because the Hooghly river was experiencing one of the highest ever tides. "The areas affected will be Khiddirpore, Kalighat, GT Road, Bandel, Barrackpore and Bagada in North 24 Parganas. We have warned the Calcutta Municipal Corporation and Calcutta police to remain on high alert and do everything possible to tackle the crisis," he added.

The state government has sought 12 fibreglass boats each from UNICEF and the Orissa Government to speed up relief and rescue operations. Regular sorties are being carried out by Indian Air Force MI-8s and MI-17s, from Panagarh and Calcutta every day.

Many non-government organisations and volunteers from Siliguri also helped in rescuing those marooned in North Bengal. They also collected donations, food items and clothes and distributed them among the flood-affected.

Alipore's meteorological departmental said on Tuesday that torrential rain in south Bengal may end by Wednesday morning, following weakness of the depression in Bay of Bengal. The weather bureau, however, said that there would not be any respite from rain in north Bengal.

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