W. Bengal flood toll rises to 155

CALCUTTA, SEPT. 23. The toll in West Bengal floods shot up to 155 today with 82 fresh deaths reported and 160 missing, as a population of over one crore was hit in eight affected districts.

Army helicopters from Panagarh in Bardhaman airdropped food packets in worst-affected Murshidabad, Birbhum, Nadia, Hooghly and Bardhaman carrying out four to six sorties in each district for the third consecutive day, the Bardhaman District Magistrate, Mr. Swami Singh told PTI over phone.

The fresh deaths were reported from Murshidabad - 48 with another 160 missing, Bardhaman - 4, Birbhum 12, Hooghly - two, Nadia - nine, Howrah - two and Midnapore - five, according to official sources. Unofficial sources put the death toll at over 350.

Fiftynine persons have died and 160 others were missing after rains and flash floods hit Murshidabad district with the swollen Padma and Bhairab rivers still rising, the District Magistrate, Mr. Vivek Kumar, said today. Unofficial sources put the toll at 250.

All the 26 blocs of the district, which had been cut off for the past five days with surface communication and telelinks down, were affected by the floods with the situation in Kandi, Beldanga I and II being critical.

At Khargram in Kandi, thousands of affected persons had taken refuge in trees, he said. The airdropping of food by Army helicopters was ``insufficient'', Mr. Kumar said. Most areas were inaccessible as roads and highways had been inundated. The District Magistrate of Malda, Mr. Ajit Bardhan, had sent 8,000 tarpaulins and two truck loads of parched rice, he said.

89 perish in Bihar

The death toll in the current spate of floods in Bihar shot up to 89 today with six deaths reported from Munger and three from Shekhpura following inundation in fresh places of these two areas, besides in Sitamarhi, Kahalgaon and Lakhisarai due to heavy rains, State Relief Department sources said in Patna today.

Nearly, four million people have been hit by the floods in 21 districts of the State and standing crops and houses worth over Rs. 50 crores have been damaged.

According to a Central Water Commission report, major rivers are in spate and have crossed the danger marks. However, State Water Resources Department sources claimed that all the vital embankment in the State were ``safe''.

Railway sources said train services on the Jamalpur- Munger and Jamalpur-Bhagalpur sections of the Eastern Railway have been suspended or are being diverted through alternative routes following inundation of the railway tracks.

- PTI

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