The West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is today visiting flooded villages in Udaynarayanpur, in Howrah, while she has spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today, hoping the Centre will extend relief and compensate for the losses due to the deluge caused by the release of water from DVC and Durgapur barrage.
Miss Banerjee today visited Udaranarayanpur via road and interacted with the flood victims. Large parts of the area are under the water. She was also scheduled to visit Khanakul in Hooghly but had to cancel due to heavy rainfall since morning. Miss Banerjee is said to have spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, informing him of the flood situation in Bengal which can take a turn for the worse due to further rainfall. PM Modi has reportedly assured her of all assistance require to mitigate the impacts of this disaster.
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The Bengal CM has assured the PM that her administration will send a report to the Prime Minister’s Office on the flood situation, and damages caused by the deluge after completing the survey.
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 approx. 3 lakh people have already been displaced while 15 people lost their lives in the flood. The IAF was recently engaged in airlifting people from rooftops in the flooded villages of Khanakul in Hooghly.
The situation was similar in Ghatal in West Midnapore where people are trapped in their homes and have even shifted with their cattle to rooftops. The marooned population is forced to use the floodwater for drinking purposes, sparking off concerns of an epidemic outbreak.
The Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee recently visited the flood-stricken Ghatal and assured that the state government has arranged for drinking water in camps set up wherever it was possible. The civic bodies have also been put into action to ensure the flood-trapped people get to access drinking water and relief materials.