Mamata Banerjee held meeting at her home to review flood-like situation in two Bengal districts

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee held a crucial meeting at her home on Tuesday evening to review flood-like situation in three Bengal districts of East and West Midnapore and Hooghly. It is learnt that the chief minister has asked the state irrigation minister to talk to the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to urge them not to discharge excessive water from their dams located in different parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar.

Several parts of East and West Midnapore and Hooghly districts got inundated due to recent rains in these regions and due to discharge of water from different dams under DVC. Rivers like Darakeswar, Kansabati, Bhairobanki, Shilabati are overflowing due to heavy shower in the past few days and in some pockets water is flowing beyond the danger level.

Roads which connect Ayodhaya Hills in Purulia district are also inundated due to overflowing of the river Baku. About 2000 mud houses in Purulia district have been washed away due to the flood-like situation. In Keshpur under West Midnapore district, embankments of Kansabati river in several places including Narajole got damaged and and water from the river has inundated many areas there.

A senior state government official told ET on Tuesday that eight truckloads of relief materials left Kolkata during the day for flood-affected areas in East and West Midnapore.

It is learnt that the chief minister had asked the state irrigation department to take stock of the current situation and instruct the relief department to help the flood-hit people in the two districts.