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Floods in Burdwan leave 50,000 homeless

Rifat Jawaid in Calcutta

Floods in Burdwan district of West Bengal have left five people dead and more than 50,000 homeless. Reports reaching here said over 12,000 houses in twelve blocks have been destroyed.

Speaking to rediff.com from his Burdwan office, District Magistrate Swamy Singh said the floods had taken his administration by surprise. "In the past three days alone Burdwan received about 200 ml rainfall," he said.

"We are trying our best to evacuate people from flooded areas. So far, over 30,000 people have been shifted to safer places. Government schools and hospitals have been converted into shelter homes.

Singh was in Calcutta on Wednesday to discuss the situation with the state finance minister Asim Dasgupta.

Dasgupta later told reporters that the state government had assured all possible help to the Burdwan district administration to meet the situation.

Singh said though the water had begun to recede now, it would be couple of days before people could return to their villages.

Singh's deputy, Prabhat Kumar Mishra, is currently in Calcutta to organise help for the district. "Over 150 cattle heads have perished in the floods and several thousand acres of ready paddy crop has been destroyed," Mishra said.

Due to waterlogging, all modes of transport in the district have come to a standstill. However, with no rains in the past couple of days, the administration is optimistic that the situation would improve soon.

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