Kolkata: The south Bengal districts are going to witness another spell of heavy rainfall for three consecutive days with formation of a fresh low pressure trough over northwest Bay of Bengal alerted the MeT officials.
As fallout of the first phase of incessant rainfall coupled with heavy wind on Thursday with creation of a low pressure area on north Bay of Bengal, there was incidents of boat capsize killing a three-year-old girl and a 45-year-old man going missing at the confluence of river Matla and Hogla river at Canning in South 24-Parganas.
Police said that around 22 people from Sonakhali at Basanti went to Itkhola Gram Panchayat area at Canning by crossing the river on a motorized boat on Thursday to attend last rites of a person who died on Wednesday.
The boat capsized when they were returning after attending the last rites as the boatman could not control the same due to the high tide. Though 20 of them including the boatman managed to swim to the river bank, the body of the three-year-old girl was fished out by divers. The 45-year-old Anjed Jamadar is still missing.
In another incident at Shibpur in Howrah, two youths were electrocuted when they attempted to pass through a water logged road. The incident took place as a bare live wire fell into the logged water. Local people protested against the incident raising allegation of lackadaisical attitude against the concerned authorities to repair the same. There was a report of damage of embankments at different places and water entering the nearby villages. Several villages in four blocks in South 24 Parganas- Kakdwip, Sagar, Namkhana and Patharpratima suffered damage with river water overflowing its banks at the time of spring tide. The river embankments in some areas also suffered damages with the rivers in spate on Thursday morning.
"Parts of eight villages under Kakdwip block – that includes Madhusudanpur, Poiladighi, Ishwaripur etc, four in Namkhana that includes Fraserganj, Mousuni Islands etc, five in Patharpratima and two to three like Bankimnagar, Kochuberia in Sagar have been inundated with river water overflowing its banks in some areas embankments damaged in some and river bank caving in some other areas. However, there is no need to relocate any inhabitants at this juncture, " said Sunderban Development minister Manturam Pakhira.
The state Irrigation department has already deployed their engineers at different places to keep an eye on the situation and work for restoration of the damaged embankments has started on war footing.
Water from the river has also inundated Mohanpur and its adjoining areas in Minakhan, North 24 Parganas. Saline river water has sneaked into agricultural land and water bodies in some seven odd villages impacting agriculture and fishery. On Thursday heavy waves lashed the Digha coast during high tide and according to the local people that had not experienced such heavy waves of this magnitude in the past 10 years. The water crossed the boulders and flooded the strand which is a rare sight at Digha.
According to the forecast of the meteorological department, the heavy to very heavy rainfall as on Thursday and Friday will continue on August 23, 24 and 25 in south Bengal districts after a gap on Saturday and Sunday.