Composite report on deluge sent to the Centre: Mamata

The West Bengal government has sent a composite report to the Centre on the estimated loss in the recent flood in 11 districts of the state, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday. “The total loss has been estimated at around Rs 14,000 crore,” Banerjee said.

So far 152 persons have died in the flood in the 11 districts in northern and southern parts of West Bengal while over 10 lakh acre of agricultural land was inundated in it. The monetary value of the total loss has been estimated at around Rs 7,000 crore and nothing was received from the central government as aid, according to a senior official of the agricultural department.

“Not a single penny has been given to West Bengal whereas other flood-hit states have got grant of around Rs 500 crore. The Centre is yet to send anybody to take a stock of the situation here,” he said. The agriculture department, the officer said, has almost completed 94 per cent distribution of seeds to the farmers in the 11 flood-hit districts of the state.

Meanwhile, the situation in the six districts of northern West Bengal is improving with no major rainfall reported from anywhere in the area. “Overall situation is fine and is improving every day. Distribution of relief funds continue and block development officers and district magistrates are supervising the process,” a senior officer of the state disaster management department said today. As per a report of the disaster management department, nearly three lakh houses were fully damaged while close to 55,000 were severely damaged and over 52,000 were partly ruined. Till now, close to 1.5 crore people have been affected in the floods in the state.

So far 152 persons have died in the flood in the 11 districts in northern and southern parts of West Bengal while over 10 lakh acre of agricultural land was inundated in it