WB floods claim 25 lives, 22 lakh people hit

Kolkata/Kolaghat, Jun 21 (PTI) - The flood situation in
West Bengal's West and East Midnapore districts remained grim
Friday with the death toll mounting to 25 as nearly 22 lakh
people were hit.

With rivers in the two districts receding with
discharge from Subarnarekha and other reservoirs reduced, four
army teams were engaged in rescue operations in the worst-hit
areas as I.A.F. helicopters made sorties to air-drop food
packets, water pouches and medicines.

The army rescued 280 people and the Air Force 307,
while 17 tonne of food was air dropped, defence officials
said.

Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta said 54 speedboats of
the civil defence department, in addition to nine of the army
and 150 country boats were engaged in rescue and relief work.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who held a
review meeting at Kolaghat in East Midnapore district,
described the situation as "very bad".

While 17 blocks were flooded in West Midnapore, 15
were affected in East Midnapore, of which six were in very bad
shape, Bhattacharjee said.

Of the 22 lakh people affected, 16 lakh were from West
Midnapore and the rest from East Midnapore, he said.

"In West Midnapore, the worst affected areas are
Sabang and Narayangarh. At least two lakh people are in 822
relief camps," he said, adding crops worth crores and 16,000
houses have been destroyed.

In East Midnapore, Patashpur, Bhagabanpur I and II
blocks and Egra were the worst affected with 2.5 lakh people
taking shelter in 60 relief camps.

Dasgupta said 2,700 tonne of rice and 1.50 lakh pieces
of tarpaulin had been despatched to the affected areas.

The state irrigation department has been asked to
monitor the embankment for breaches, he said.

Dasgupta said the two district magistrates have been
asked to make a list of the victims and form relief and
reconstruction committees to ensure there was no
discrimination in distribution of relief.

Medical teams have been rushed to the flood-affected
areas and a central medical team would arrive soon.

Meanwhile, South Eastern Railway sources said initial
restoration of the snapped East Coast rail link connecting
Kolkata with southern India would take at least 15 days
because of the severity of the damage to a bridge by flood
waters in West Midnapore district.

"Initial restoration of one line will take at least 15
days. Even after that the traffic on the line would be a
trickle," a source told P.T.I.

The rail link was snapped on Tuesday after flood
waters of the Keleghai washed away the girder and damaged the
pier of bridge number 168 between Narayangarh and Bakhrabad
stations. PTI