Flood hits three districts in north

A woman wades through water in Alipurduar on Friday. (Anirban Choudhury)

TT, Aug. 11: Over one lakh people have been affected in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts because of incessant rainfall in the past 24 hours.

In Alipurduar, two deaths have been reported and over 20,000 people were affected because of floods.

Both the administration and the civic body have engaged country boats to rescue stranded people in Alipurduar district, sources said.

Some of the villages located on the outskirts of Cooch Behar town have been inundated as the Torsha river has spilled its banks. The state irrigation department has issued alerts in some low-lying areas along rivers.

The authorities, sources said, have shifted most of the people residing in those areas to higher places or flood relief centres.

North Bengal development minister, Rabindranath Ghosh, said: "The incessant rainfall since yesterday in some north Bengal districts coupled with showers in Bhutan has swelled the rivers flowing downhill. Water-logging has been reported from all wards of Cooch Behar town. The administration is on alert but we are apprehensive that the situation might deteriorate if downpour continues for a couple of days."

Sourav Chakroborty, the MLA of Alipurduar, said chief minister Mamata Banerjee had asked him to take care of the affected people. "We have distributed polythene sheets and cooked food."

Met department officials in Jalpaiguri said there was a forecast that similar weather conditions would prevail for another couple of days.