A woman filling water from a tap in a flooded area in East Bardhaman in West Bengal on August 3, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The West Bengal government has issued a flood alert for the southern parts of the State in view of water release from two dams in Jharkhand.
Directing local authorities to stay vigilant, Alapan Bandopadhyay, the Chief Adviser to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said on August 3 that the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) had released a massive 75,000 cusecs of water through the Panchet and Maithon dams in Jharkhand, which could lead to floods in the State.
โThere will be high tide on August 5 and 6. Hooghly, Howrah, Udainarayanpur, Khanakul, Amta areas can be flooded owing to the high tide and DVC water release at the same time,โ he said.
Red alert for northern areas
A red alert for extremely heavy rainfall has been issued for the north of the West Bengal district of Alipurduar. He said there were chances of flash floods in the area. Other districts of north Bengal such as Coochbehar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, and Malda have also been put on orange alert for heavy rainfall.
โThe Chief Minister is monitoring the situation 24×7. She is in constant touch with the district administration and police,โ the Chief Advisor said.
The DVC has released 75,000 cusecs of water from the two dams as of August 2. Officials said they were not consulted before the DVC released โhuge amounts of water when West Bengal is already facing waterlogging in many places due to incessant rainโ.
DVC officials said they would further release one lakh cusecs through the Maithon and Panchet dams in the coming days. Mr. Bandopadhyay said this could cause serious havoc in West Bengal and lead to a flood-like situation in the State.
Criticising the move, former Rajya Sabha MP and Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh posted on social media site X (formerly Twitter): โDVC has released more water to create a man-made flood. During summers when we ask for water, they do not release any. But when monsoon causes rise in water level in Jharkhand, they release water into our State and increase danger levels.โ
Airport flooded
The Kolkata Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport was flooded on Saturday following heavy rain in the city for the past three days. Many planes were seen parked in the water in a video that went viral on social media.
Instances of waterlogging were reported from nearby areas of Howrah, Salt Lake, and other places across the State. Many houses were submerged, and locals stranded.
With the Ajay River overflowing in Paschim Burdwan, a temporary bridge in the Sibpur area was washed away, disrupting the lives of residents. A part of a concrete bridge collapsed at Udaynarayanpur in Howrah owing to the incessant rain.
