DVC's release of water inundates South Bengal districts

Kolkata: With the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) releasing more water from its barrages, many parts of South Bengal districts became badly inundated and crops were also damaged.

Some parts of Burdwan, Bankura and Murshidabad were highly inundated as the rivers were flooded due to the extra release of water from Jharkhand. A deep depression formed over the Gangetic Bengal that brought heavy rainfall in various South Bengal districts including the city.

It may be recalled that a few days ago, there was heavy rainfall in Bengal with Kolkata seeing continuous spells. The situation gradually improved in the city but the condition in these districts continues to be grim due to the release of water from Jharkhand. In some parts, river banks collapsed further complicating the situation.

People residing close to the Mayurakshi and Ajay rivers were badly affected as the water from the river entered into the agricultural fields and damaged the crops as the levels in these rivers crossed the danger mark with the DVC releasing extra water from its dams.

Several parts of Guskara in East Burdwan got inundated as the river Ajay over-flooded and many locals left their houses situated in the area. The local administration and municipality are taking steps to provide them shelter and relief materials. Various parts of Mongolkot area of East Burdwan also came under water as the Kunur river over-flooded.

This also led to severe destruction of crops. In Katwa, two ferry ghats were shut. Ferry services from Katwa to Nadia were dismissed as the water level in the river rose. The decision to shut down ferry services was taken by the district administration on Wednesday night.

Many people remained stranded due the shutdown of ferry services. The local administration made adequate arrangements for their food on Thursday night. The services were, however, started from 11 am on Thursday though there were some restrictions by the administration. Birbhum's Mohammed Bazar also got inundated due to release of extra water of around 22,000 cusec from the Tilpara barrage. Some stretches of farmland in Bankura also came under water due to incessant rain.

Several parts of Manteswar in Birbhum remained under water on Thursday. The situation was no different in Murshidabad after the river embankments of Mayurakshi collapsed. The water level of Mayurakshi river almost touched the Angarpur bridge on the Bharatpur-Kandi state highway. Due to the release of extra water from various barrages in Jharkhand, the situation is gradually becoming difficult in the South Bengal districts. With Jharkhand receiving more rainfall, the barrages started releasing more water from Monday. The situation has been further complicated as the deep depression formed over Gangetic West Bengal moved towards Jharkhand.