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High tide alert in parts of Calcutta

Rifat Jawaid in Calcutta

The West Bengal government has warned that a large part of Calcutta will once again be submerged by flood water due to high tide in the Hooghly on Wednesday evening.

The state relief ministry told rediff.com that the tide is expected to be over six ft in height, which would cause inundation in Kalighat, Iqbalpur and Tollygunge Circular Road in south Calcutta and Adi Ganga belt, Nimtola Ghat and areas around Kestopur Canal in north Calcutta.

"We have warned the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, police and the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation to remain on high alert. The situation is likely to worsen further on September 29 and 30 when the tide will go higher than six feet," said PS Inty, the chief relief secretary.

The newly elected mayor, Subrata Mukherjee, said he had advised those marooned, especially those residing along the canal, to move to higher areas. However, his appeals seem to have evoked a sharp criticism from the people of his own backyard, Kalighat.

Residents there have accused him of being indifferent to their sufferings.

Said Sushmita Mondal of Kalighat, "This is shameful. We have Railway Minister Mamta Banerjee living in Kalighat. Ironically, even CMC chairman Anil Mukherjee won the election on a Trinamul ticket from Kalighat. Yet, we have been left to suffer, with no one even coming to see us. We have been spending sleepless nights since Monday. Subrata says we should move to higher places. Will he identify where should we go?"

Meanwhile, the toll in the floods has shot up to 535, with about 200 people missing. Some 5.79 million people are still stranded, while the state government claims that its relief workers have evacuated 3.01 million people till date.

The relief ministry has written to the Union agriculture minister and the Prime Minister's Office asking them to undertake an aerial survey of the areas affected by the floods.

A source in the finance department told rediff.com that the total damage in the floods stood at a staggering Rs 30.89 billion. On Tuesday, the state government had asked the Centre to immediately release Rs 9.62 billion and to declare the floods as a 'national disaster of the rarest severity'. The state government has Rs 1 billion in its natural calamity fund, which it says is 'insufficient' to meet the crisis.

Meanwhile, Eastern Railway has started running a few trains on local routes. Trains for Rampurhat in Birbhoom and Katua in Bardwan left Calcutta on Wednesday morning. However, long distance trains had to be canceled on Tuesday as well. A senior ER official informed that there was no possibility of long distance trains resuming even on Wednesday.

In another development, telecom engineers in Calcutta have agreed to suspend their strike on Wenesday in the wake of the floods.

RELATED REPORTS:
Flood toll rises to 516, waters enter Calcutta: PTI
Centre lacks will-power: Mukherjee
Flood toll rises to 450

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