Rajib Banerjee, Goutam Deb visit Siliguri to take stock of inundated areas

Goutam Deb, the state Tourism Minister, was accompanying the Irrigation Minister when he went to visit Dimdima and Khudirampalli areas in Siliguri.

Banerjee is scheduled to visit Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar on Thursday. It is learnt that Banerjee will be going up to Joygaon at Indo-Bhutan border to take a stock of the situation.

There are some parts in Siliguri including Dimdima and Khudirampalli which are still inundated. The reason behind inundation in Siliguri is that it received highest rainfall this year in the past 20 years. Most people in Cooch Behar were affected. The situation was not that bad in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar.

Though rainfall has almost stopped in most parts of the districts in North Bengal, many areas still remained heavily inundated. Siliguri received around 52 mm rainfall on Wednesday. With the reduction in the heavy downpour, the water level is also expected to go down. The irrigation department officials are also keeping a watch on the water flowing down from the hills in Sikkim and Bhutan.

When asked whether the work of constructing embankments would get affected due to less supply of boulders, Banerjee said that they have sufficient quantity of boulders in their stock and it would not be a problem. Moreover, alternate methods can be adopted for embankments if required.

Deb, later said in connection with Dimdima, that there is around 400 metres of erosion prone area in the region and the plan of the state government is to construct permanent embankment there.

The ministers spoke to the residents of the area and the wanted to know whether they had received relief materials or not. It may be mentioned that the state government has provided relief materials to around 1.20 lakh people till Tuesday and more relief materials have been distributed on Wednesday among the people those were affected due to inundation.

According to the sources in the state disaster management department more medical teams were pressed to take care of the people. Water pouches were also been sent to affected areas in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and plain lands in Darjeeling district.