Over 2,500 hit in Bankura as 224mm rain triggers floods

Bankura/Jhargram/Kolkata: The flood situation in Bankura has triggered an alarm, with 224mm rainfall in the last 24 hours killing one person and affecting more than 2,500 people.
The state disaster management department said Gunomoy Bhandari (70), a resident of Nagardanga, drowned while crossing a swollen rivulet in Mejhia block.
It also said 52 houses in the district were fully damaged and more than 663 partially damaged in the rain.Of the more than 2,500 people affected, 610 have been rescued and sent to relief camps.
The state administration sent two quick response tea-ms and opened relief camps in Bankura town. The situation may worsen as the Met department forecast heavy to very heavy rain in Gangetic West Bengal till Tuesday owi-ng to a low-pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal.
“Three blocks — Bankura-II, Mejhia and Satighat — and eight wards of Bankura municipality are affected. We had to rush in two speedboats with 12 volunteers for rescue work,” a senior department official said. “If there is more rain, then the situation might become really alarming.”
While Bankura reeled from a flood-like situation, Jhargram’s people agitated over waterlogging in their area and smashed windowpanes of the tourism complex in Jhargram Rajbari, including those of the ground-floor room where chief minister Mamata Banerjee will put up during her two-day visit to Jhargram on August 8-9.
The incident followed heavy rain since Sunday evening, when many roads and lanes in the town went under water, causing problems for people living around the Rajbari in Jhargram Municipality’s ward 11. Rajbari and tourism complex sources said the room where Banerjee stays is mostly damaged. The CM will reach Jhargram town on the evening of August 8 and leave after addressing programmes the next day. These include an administrative meeting with district administration officials and a public meeting.
Jhargram DM Ayesha Rani said: “It is a minor incident. We have surveyed the area. The irrigation department has been asked to clear rainwater from the area and elsewhere in Jhargram town.”