CM Suvendu Adhikari monitors the flood situation from the control room at Jalasampad Bhavan on Friday
Several areas of the Lower Damodar Valley have been inundated following heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, with water flowing above the danger mark in Khanakul, Jangipara and Goghat, Adhikari said. “Even if some water remains accumulated in the areas, the situation will improve,” he said. The CM expressed hope that without further rainfall, water levels would recede soon. Chairing an emergency meeting with officials of the irrigation and waterways department at Jalasampad Bhavan, the CM detailed the measures that were being taken with waters flowing above the danger level in several low-lying belts of Hooghly and Howrah.
Kolkata/Midnapore: Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday took stock of the flood situation in south Bengal districts and said there was no need to panic as the administration was evacuating vulnerable people and arranging relief supplies across inundated areas.
Water release from DVC’s reservoirs at Maithon and Panchet, alongside discharges exceeding 100,000 cusec from Durgapur Barrage, have flooded lower catchment zones along the Damodar, Silabati and Jhumi rivers, he added. Adhikari said Bengal will receive Rs 500 crore this year to address riverbank erosion along the Ganga and Bhagirathi in Malda and Murshidabad, though additional funding would be required. Adhikari also praised Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for its handling of the situation and said it had reduced the amount of water being released, raising hopes that water levels would recede soon. “Contingency funds have been released.
No dams were breached despite heavy rainfall and water pressure,” the CM said, adding that Bengal chief secretary Manoj Agarwal had been instructed to hold coordination meetings with Bihar and Jharkhand. Adhikari said seven blocks in rural Hooghly, including Arambag and parts of Howrah’s Udaynarayanpur, have been affected by excessive rain. Personnel of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and civil defence were operating in the affected villages to supply food and drinking water, the CM said.
“DVC has managed operations well under adverse conditions. Anti-venom stocks are ready, and rescue boats and speedboats have been deployed to deliver water and rations,” he added.