Bengal government on toes amid forecast of high tides, flood-like situation

The West Bengal government on Saturday expressed concerns over the flood-like situation created in some districts of the state following heavy rainfall for the last four to five days.

Also, there is a forecast for high tides along the state’s coastal districts in the next few days, prompting the government to take all precautionary measures as certain pockets may be prone to flooding.

Alapan Bandyopadhyay, Chief Advisor to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, addressed a press conference on Saturday and said “South Bengal districts like Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum and many other districts, were affected due to constant rain.”

He further added, “In Coochbehar, Alipurduar and in North Bengal districts were badly affected due to heavy rain. Mamata Banerjee is closely monitoring the situation”.

“Also, the Damodar Valley Corporation may also release the water without any information. So, we will ask everyone to be cautious and careful”, Bandyopadhyay said.

The DVC is a multipurpose river valley project of independent India for public welfare in Jharkhand and West Bengal.

The Chief Advisor also mentioned that the DVC is not cooperating with the state government on the matter of releasing water through various dams.

“DVC is going to release more water in the coming days. But this will create problems for everyone. Don’t get panicked but be very careful. Around August 5 to 7, there may be some problems due to high tide. DVC to pass one lakh cusecs water. We have requested not to release such a huge amount of water. Otherwise, there could be flood-like situations in many places” Alapan Bandopadhyay said.

All District Magistrates and top police officers have been informed that we are constantly monitoring the situation, he added.

During the heavy rainfall in a number of districts in the last few days, there were scenes of waterlogging and flood-like situations that disrupted normal life.

Heavy rains in Kolkata and its neighbouring areas caused waterlogging on the runway of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.

The flight operations were, however, normal and no flights were cancelled or delayed.

Heavy rain lashed Kolkata on Thursday and Friday as a low-pressure area intensified into a deep depression. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted more rain for the city.