Six dead in Bengal; govt, DVC at odds

THE WORST AFFECTED DISTRICTS WERE BIRBHUM, WEST MIDNAPORE, EAST MIDNAPORE, HOOGHLY, MURSHIDABAD, BANKURA AND HOWRAH

At least six people were killed in West Bengal as incessant rain since Sunday pushed up the water level in more than a dozen rivers inundating large swathes across six districts.

During her visit to Delhi on Tuesday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee discussed the flood situation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Rajnath Singh.

Though some of the districts witnessed less rain since Tuesday morning, the situation worsened after the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) started releasing water from its reservoirs as water levels had risen dangerously.

The worst affected districts were Birbhum, West Midnapore, East Midnapore, Hooghly, Murshidabad, Bankura and Howrah. Parts of Burdwan, Purulia and Murshidabad were also affected. State and national highways were inundated at several places. As a result, a number of district towns and villages were cut off from each other forcing the government to sound an alert on Monday.

The government set up a special control room at Nabanna, the state secretariat. “All employees of the disaster management and irrigation departments and chief medical officers have been asked to report for duty. Leaves have been cancelled,” said irrigation minister Rajib Banerjee.

The flood has now triggered a blame game between the government and the DVC.

Banerjee alleged that DVC officials did not inform the government before water was released. DVC officials, however, denied the charges.