Flood victims scramble for foodgrain

A group of flood-affected people enters a godown of the state food and supplies department to obtain food grains in Itahar, North Dinajpur, on Friday; a BSF jawan rescues two women in Balurghat

TT, Aug. 18: Aggrieved flood victims unable to receive adequate relief materials, including food grains, given by the administration barged into the state food and supplies department godown in Itahar in North Dinajpur today and took away sacks of foodgrains.

The inconsistent supply of relief materials by the administration of North and South Dinajpur districts has also led to protests and demonstrations in the past 24 hours.

Rahul Das, a Raiganj resident who has been working for flood victims, said this desperation by local people only affirms that the administration was not providing relief materials in all the flood affected areas. "If people get food, interim shelter and other essential items like tarpaulins, why would they break a government godown."

Yesterday, Bijoy Burman, a youth residing in Sripur area of Itahar, sustained injuries after police allegedly fired rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of flood victims - that had entered into an altercation with the administration representatives - who were demanding tarpaulins.

"It is inhuman that the distressed people who had come to collect relief materials, were beaten up by policemen," Srikumar Mukherjee, the former MLA of Itahar and a CPI leader, said.

In Balurghat, three local leaders of Trinamul were assaulted by a group of annoyed people near a police station. The group had alleged lack of assistance from the administration and local panchayat leaders.

Sources said around 1,000 people of Chaknandan in Balurghat have become homeless after their area was flooded by the Atrayee river

In Raiganj, over 20,000 people are staying away from their homes for the past three days as at least six wards are still under water spilled by the Kulik river. "Not a single person from the district administration has come to help us," Pradip Dutta, one of the flood victims in Raiganj said.

A retired government official said such incidents indicates the brewing discontentment among people and alleged lack of planning on the administration's part. "It seems that the relief materials were not stocked at strategic locations so that those can be accessed and distributed at the earliest. As of now, road conditions are bad in both North and South Dinajpur districts and also many roads are under water."

Mohit Sengupta, the Raiganj MLA, said today that it is the Raiganj municipality that was distributing drinking water among the flood-affected people. "The local people, social organisations and clubs are providing relief materials and supplying food to the flood victims. Absence of aid from the administration is disappointing."

Ayesha Rani A, the district magistrate of North Dinajpur, denied the allegation. "There had been some minor problems in Itahar, so far as the distribution of relief is concerned. We are focussing more on rescuing stranded people and at the same time distributing relief also," she said.

In Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts, flood situation however, has improved.

Today, state tourism minister Gautam Deb visited some more flood affected areas of Alipurduar district and held a meeting with state government officials to obtain details about the loss. "Our officers are making the assessment of loss but it seems that the total loss in this district would be around Rs 1,000 crore. We need financial assistance from the Centre." he said.