Even as hundreds of people are still marooned in floodwater across districts in South Bengal, the Alipore meteorological department has warned against further rainfall in this part of Bengal, causing a worry among victims and state administration.

Lives across districts in South Bengal such as West Midnapore, Burdwan, Hooghly, Howrah was put in peril after large cusecs of water were discharged from DVC and the Durgapur barrage following heavy rainfall. A total of 2.5 lakh
people have already been displaced while 15 people lost their lives in the flood. The water levels though have receded slightly in Ghatal, in West Midnapore, the levels are rising in Khanakul and Udaynarayanpur in Hooghly and Howrah, respectively.

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The Indian Air Force was engaged by the state administration to help in the rescue operations yesterday. However, the situation could soon turn grim as the weather office predicted more rainfall for South Bengal districts.
Further rainfall could completely drown towns and villages in the mentioned districts, especially in the coastal areas and ones adjoining Odisha. Rainfall alerts have already been circulated for South and North 24 Parganas and East and West Midnapore.

The met office predicted the rainfall may increase from tomorrow. This warning has caused much tension among the flood victims and state administration since water levels in Khanakul and Howrah’s Udaynarayanpur have barely receded and further rain can drown more villages. In Howrah, about 41 villages have already drowned in Udaynarayanpur while in Hooghly about 60 villages are underwater. About 80 flood relief centres have been opened here while approx. 35 in Howrah.

The Durgapur barrage has, however, released a lesser amount of water today compared to the discharge on Sunday and Monday. The state government has set up shelter homes for those displaced, as relief operations, which began sometime last week, continue in the flood-affected areas, the official said. Over one lakh tarpaulin, 1,000 MT of rice, thousands of drinking water pouches and clean clothes have been sent to the shelters homes, it was learnt.

“We are collecting the details of all 14 people who have lost their lives due to the flood. We are waiting for a final report from the district administrations,” the official said. The NDRF and SDRF teams continue to remain engaged in evacuation and rescue operations. Sources said over 200 villages in Hooghly’s Khanakul, West Midnapore’s Ghatal and Howrah’s Udaynarayanpur have been hit by floods and around five lakh people have been affected across the state.

The W. Midnapore district administration has opened 212 relief camps as areas under 172-gram panchayats and seven municipalities were flooded. The link road between the towns of Keshpur and Midnapore is underwater. Around three lakh people got displaced after heavy rain in the last few days, followed by the discharge of water from Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) dams inundated major parts of the districts of Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, Paschim Medinipur, Hooghly, Howrah and South 24 Parganas, officials said.

The ongoing flood situation triggered a political slugfest between the TMC and the BJP. Teams of NDRF and SDRF, along with the state administration, are involved in the relief and rescue operation.