Flood in West Bengal in India

There was no let up in the flood situation in Assam, Bihar and north Bengal on Wednesday with more deaths being reported from the states due to the natural calamity.

The number of lives lost in the third wave of floods in Assam increased by 11, taking the toll to 39. Around 33.45 lakh people in 24 of the 32 districts in the state remained affected due to the floods.

The number of lives claimed by the floods in Assam so far this year stood at 123, including eight in Guwahati.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal o Wednesday left for Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprise him of the preliminary damage caused by the third wave of floods.

According to a report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), Dhubri, with 8.5 lakh affected people, was the worst hit, followed by Morigaon where 5.1 lakh people were affected.

As many as 2,970 villages were under water and 1.43 lakh hectares of crop area were damaged, the report said.

The ASDMA said the authorities were running 304 relief camps and distribution centres in 21 districts, where 1,38,648 people had taken shelter.

The ASDMA said heavy erosion was witnessed in Chirang and Biswanath districts.

The Brahmaputra river was flowing above the danger mark at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns, officials said.

Other rivers such as the Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur, Kopili at Dharamtul in Nagaon, Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta, Kushiyara at Karimganj town were flowing above the danger mark, they added.

Most of the forest areas in the Kaziranga National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Lawkhua Wildlife Sanctuary were under the flood waters, they said.

In Bihar, the toll mounted to 72 from 56 on Tuesday and around 73.44 lakh people in 14 districts were affected by the floods, triggered by incessant rains in Nepal and the northern parts of the state.

Anirudh Kumar, special secretary, state disaster management department, said Gopalgunj was the latest district to be hit by the floods, which had engulfed 110 blocks and 1,151 panchayats.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who was scheduled to conduct an aerial survey of Bettiah and Valmikinagar during the day, along with deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, could not do so due to bad weather conditions.

He, however, monitored the flood situation from Patna by interacting with senior government officials.

Train services continued to be affected due to the calamity and rail movement was completely disrupted in many sections, a statement from Rajesh Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer, East Central Railways, said.

In the six districts of north Bengal, at least 32 persons have died and over 14 lakh people were affected due to the floods, caused partly due to the overflowing rivers of Bhutan, Bihar and Jharkhand.

A senior official in West Bengal’s disaster management department said the highest number of 3,64,043 people were hit in Malda, followed by 3,53,328 in Alipurduar, 1,78,546 in Jalpaiguri, 1,30,634 in Cooch Behar, 1,25,435 in South Dinajpur and 1,20,000 in North Dinajpur districts.

A total of 622 relief camps were set up with government aid, while nearly 800 of such camps were set up by various NGOs, he added.

“Currently, around 1,38,134 people have taken shelter in the relief camps,” the official said, adding that nearly three lakh hectares of agricultural land had been submerged.

He said around eight NDRF and four SDRF teams were working in the six flood-hit districts, while cooked food, dry food and drinking water were being distributed.

Meanwhile, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee reacted sharply to a reported statement by a Union minister and said providing relief to the flood-hit people was the “first priority” of the state government.

“We have to rescue the people first and only after that we will start evaluating the magnitude of damage due to the floods. I have already spoken to the prime minister and home minister,” she told reporters while reacting to the statement that a state had to submit a memorandum to the Centre for flood relief funds.

The Eastern Railways said it would run four pairs of special trains from tomorrow to clear the rush of passengers between Sealdah and Malda, but train services beyond Malda, to different destinations of north Bengal and Assam, would continue to remain suspended owing to the flooding of the railway tracks.

One train would leave Sealdah and one from Malda on four consecutive days, an Eastern Railway spokesman said.

The railway tracks at various places in Bihar, north Bengal and Assam continued to be submerged.

As a result, all passenger train services connecting north Bengal and Assam to Kolkata remained suspended for the fourth consecutive day.

The Eastern Railway cancelled 14 mail and express trains on Wednesday.

“The tracks are submerged at various places and the train services can be restored only after the water recedes and the tracks are tested to ensure safety,” the Eastern Railway spokesman said.

Northern districts of West Bengal are under flood. As of now flood water is increasing in Dakshin Dinajpur,
Uttar Dinajpur and Part of Malda District.
 Cause of Floods in the Jalpaiguri, Alipur Duar and Cooch Behar districts is due to the excessive rainfall in
the catchment areas of the Torsa and Raidak-I&II between 9th to 14th August.
 Cause of Floods in the three districts of Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and lately in Malda is due to
the excessive rainfall in the catchment areas of Kosi River Basin and the Mahananda River Basin which
led to the confluence of these two river basins causing unprecedented floods in North Bihar and in these
three districts from 12th August
 Following rivers have caused extensive damage: Fulhar River, (.71m above EDL), Atreyee River (0.2m
above EDL) and Teljana (.2m above EDL)
Present Situation
 Population affected : 44,21,996
 Number of human lives lost – 32 (Drowning- 30, Snake Bite- 2)
 Number of cattle livestock lost/ perished - 104 (Assessment is going on)
 Cropped area affected (in hect.) - 293770.790 (Assessment is going on)
 Number of houses - Fully (59288) Partly (141606)
 Number of Relief Camps opened – 1155
 Persons in Relief Camps – 2,74,901
 Relief materials dispatched: Tarpaulins – 1.8 lakh, Rice – 1900 MT, Contingency – Rs. 2.05 crore, Disaster
Management kits – 15000, Chira – 10 MT, Gur – 2.5 MT and Baby Food – 2MT.
 Transportation is being provided to the stranded passengers at Malda station to reach the Dalkhola
station where two special trains from Dalkhola are being run to Gauhati daily at 6:30 hours and 6:00 pm.
 In Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur district – voluntary organizations are trying to provide hot
cooked meal among the flood victims with their limited resource though need is very high.
 Due to no road and rail communication most of the areas remain cut off.
 In affected areas Schools are not functional

Emerging Need (Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and Maldah)

Rescue Boat, 2. Tarpaulin, 3. Water, 4. Food, 5. Cloths, 6. Hygiene kit, 7. Mobile
communication and Mobile charging facilities

Response from Government and Humanitarian Agencies
 Rescue and running of Relief camps by Administration
 At Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Coochbehar District , IAG members started JRNA
 At Malda – IAG Members had a meeting with District Magistrate on Flood Situtaion of Malda
 At Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur – SWI , SRHEDS and DISHA at small affected pockets starts
serving of relief materials (dry food, water ) with their limited resources.
 Right now Social Welfare Institute, Raigunj coordinating with Merchant of Association for some
cooked food, TAP foundation for water and for dry food and medicine
 Social Welfare Institute with their own little contribution little collection from St.Xavier's School
Raiganj continuing emergency relief works.

 On 16.08.17, SWI distributed some dry food and and drinking water in Nichitpur, Simulia Sahapur
villages area of Goalpukhur II and Bathandangi, Khurka, and nearby para of Rasakhawa II GP of
Karamdighi blocks in Uttar Dinajpur districts.
 SRHEDS of Kushmandi block is conducting rescue work; presently they are providing dry food,
Sanitary Napkin, Soap – Udaypur GP of Kushmandi Block. (According to SRHEDS - there is a shortage
of Boats, distant places remain unattained.)
Coordination
 Coordination and information sharing with District IAG Members
 Sharing of emerging need related information with Administration
 State IAG West Bengal is coordinating with State EOC and District IAG Members on the situation.
 IAG West Bengal at regular interval updating its members (both NGOs and Key Officials of State
Administration) on latest weather alert, DAM Discharge Status.

Northern Districts of West Bengal cut off by road and rail way communication from Kolkata (state
capital), Maldah and also from Patna. Following districts are falling under this group - Alipurduar,
Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, North Dinajpur (Partly).
As of now, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur experiencing rise of river water and inundation.
11th August to 15th August 2017 – Warning Status still Red
State Government of West Bengal is taking utmost effort to control over the situation.
Present Situation
 Approximate number of Affected Population : More than 3 lakhs (yet to get exact figure)
 Number of Relief camps - 700
 Worst affected districts – Alipurduar, Coochbehar and part of Jalpaiguri, part of Uttar Dinajpur and
Dakshin Dinajpur
 Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts affected by landslides (Note: Situation update from this region is
irregular due to unavoidable circumstances)
 Areas are still under water, yet to get damage and loss related information
 Rescue operation is in full fledge
 State Disaster Response Force, NDRF and Civil Defense Volunteers are in rescue operation