Flood situation unchanged in Alipurduar

SNS, Siliguri, 10 July : Flood situation remained unchanged in Alipurduar sub-division and Tufanganj sub-division in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar respectively affecting thousands of families today. 

The rate of receding trend is very low because almost all rivers are still in spate in this region due to continuous rain. Officials associated with the North Bengal Flood Control Commission (NBFCC) fear that the situation may turn critical if the region receives heavy rain in the next 48 hours. 

The chief engineer and NBFCC chairman, Mr Gangadhar De, said: “The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) informed us today the region would receive heavy to very heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours.” Mr De also said that the receding trend was very slow because all rivers were still in spate due to continuous rain in this region." 

“The situation may be deteriorated if the region receive more rains in next 48 hours,” he added. According to him, the Tufanganj area in Cooch Behar received 175 mm rainfall today. The area received 156 mm and 180 mm in the past two days since Monday. 

The irrigation and waterways department has decided to continue yellow signal on the river Raidak and Teesta for protected areas. 

According to the NBFCC, the flashy rivers Kaljani, Torsa, Raidak and Sankosh have damaged banks and embankments in several spots. The Kaljani and Torsa have changed its course in different areas, owing to heavy silt deposits in riverbeds, damaging existing flood protection works. 

A total of 125 spots have identified in Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Siliguri sub-division where rivers damaged banks and embankments. 

The NBFCC engineers could not ascertain the extent of damages to estimate the cost of restoration work, which are still under floodwaters. 

Political parties mainly the Trinamul Congress are keeping in touch with the administration to provide relief to the flood victims because they are in no position to offer relief directly to them fearing violation of model code of conduct imposed for rural polls. But political parties are trying to offer help indirectly to earn their hearts ahead of the rural polls.