The Hindu : Front Page : Flood situation still grim in Paschim, Purbo Medinipur

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Flood situation still grim in Paschim, Purbo Medinipur

Special Correspondent

21 lakh people affected in both districts; rail link between West Bengal and south severely disrupted

— Photos: AFP

Challenge and response: Villagers fishing on flooded fields in Midnapore on Thursday. At right, a man uses gas cylinders as a raft to negotiate floods in the district.

Kolkata: The flood situation in West Bengal’s Paschim and Purbo Medinipur districts continued to be grim on Thursday with new areas being inundated and thousands rendered homeless. Nearly 21 lakh people have been affected.

Rail link between the State and south India has been severely disrupted.

Death toll 9

So far nine people have died in the floods, which ravaged vast tracts of the two districts, according to reports reaching the State Secretariat. Among them is a former assistant of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. His body, along with two others who accompanied him in a car, was recovered in the Narayangarh area.

The three were reported missing after the car was washed away in floodwaters two days ago.

More than 1.5 lakh people have been rescued even as swirling floodwaters kept gushing out of breaches in the embankments of swollen rivers.

The Army and the Air Force are assisting the local administration in rescue and relief operations, for which the State government has allocated Rs. 6 crore. Food and relief materials are being rushed to the flood-hit, many of whom are put up in relief camps.

Four columns of the Army were deployed in Paschim and Purbo Medinipur districts, the defence spokesperson, Group Captain R.K. Das, said.

Air Force personnel had been sent to Purbo Medinipur district. Many people whose houses had been submerged were taking shelter on roofs and treetops, he said.

Situation reviewed

The situation was reviewed at a meeting convened Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. He will visit some of the flood-hit areas on Friday.

Thousands of passengers were stranded at the Howrah station following cancellation of 12 long-distance trains. A few were regulated and the Howrah-Chennai Mail was diverted. Several suburban trains were stabled in the rail shed near the station.

The girders of a rail bridge between Narayangarh and Bakhrabad in Paschim Medinipur district, the main link for train services between Howrah and the southern States, were washed away and its pier was damaged.

It will take a few days for repairs to be completed, a South Eastern Railway official said.

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