Over 1 lakh hectare of farm land still inundated in N 24-Parganas

Kolkata: Four days after the cyclone Amphan wrecked havoc on the lives of the people in various South Bengal districts, a vast of portion of farmlands in North 24-Parganas are still under water.

According to sources, over one lakh hectare farmlands in the district still remain under water. The loss in the paddy cultivation has been minimised as the North 24-Parganas district administration helped the farmers to harvest 70 per cent of the total paddy before the Amphan struck the area while the rest has been damaged. North 24-Parganas is among the other districts which have received maximum damages.

Many crops and jute have been damaged in the district. Flower cultivation in the district and fruits have also received a severe blow. Fish cultivation in sweet and saline water have also been destroyed in several places. Vast areas of Sandeshkhali and Hingalganj have been flooded as the river embankments have been damaged badly. Destructions had also taken place in

Bagdah, Bongaon, Gobardanga and Habra areas of North 24-Parganas. The exact loss of the crops is yet to be determined by the district administrations.

Hundreds of people particularly in the most affected portions of Sandeshkhali, Hingalgunj and other areas are still to overcome the horror that they had witnessed on the day of the incident. Many of them have witnessed to the collapse of their houses and somehow managed to save their lives. A senior government official in the district said that river embankments have been damaged in several places of Sandeshkhali and Hingalganj. There are serious damages in the embankments in Nejat I & II, Sehera Radhanagar, Boyarmari and Kalinagar under Sandeshkhali block I. In Sandeshkhali block I, nearly 90 per cent of the total 2.3 lakh population have been affected. Both the MLAs from Sandeshkhali and Hingalganj have been supervising the repair works of the embankments and the rehabilitation of the villagers.

The district administrations are providing food and purified drinking water to the villagers taken refuge at various cyclone centers and at other places.

In some area local residents in the affected areas have however alleged that they were

not given adequate drinking water.