The West Bengal government on Wednesday reported four more deaths in the 15 flood-affected districts of the State, taking the death toll to 62.

An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh has been announced for the families of the deceased. An amount of Rs 1.24 crore has been allotted to the District Magistrates for paying ex-gratia.

KOLKATA, 23 AUG: The death toll in floods jumped to 58 today with eight more deaths being reported from four districts over the past 24-hours and flood situation in south Bengal districts remaining grim.

The West Bengal government on Tuesday reported eight more deaths in floods in 15 districts of the State. The death toll now stands at 58.

According to the State government, over 30 lakh people residing in 256 blocks and 82 municipalities in these district have been affected. While over 43,000 homes have been completely destroyed, another 1,90,688 homes have been partially damaged.

Six of the eight rivers – that include the Jalangi, the Rupnarayan, the Chandia, the Jamuna, the Mahananda and the Ganga – are already flowing over danger levels.

Siliguri, Aug. 21: The foundation for a water supply plant that will benefit more than 7 lakh people in Siliguri will be laid after the Pujas by the chief minister, PHE minister Subrata Mukherjee today said.
The minister said the government was also hoping to complete the Rs 55-crore Balasun water project for Darjeeling town within the same time frame.

Around 80,000 people living in Manikchak are in panic with rains bringing to halt anti-erosion work along a 4km stretch of the Ganga.

Heavy rain last night inundated low-lying areas in Malda district and increased water levels in many rivers.

People of Domhat in Manikchak have rued that the anti-erosion work started just one week back when the monsoon was about to set in.

Leaving nothing to chance, the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has formed Flood Fighting Forces (FFF) to identify vulnerable points and provide technical advice to officials concerned during floods amid indications that the state is set to get a normal monsoon this year after two consecutive years of drought.

SILIGURI, 10 JAN: In order to maintain proper food chain the forest department released a total of 58-spotted deer in Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary today.

RASHME SEHGAL

NEW DELHI The ministry of forests & environment (MFE) has launched a massive National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) to revitalise 38 key Indian rivers.

With major rivers in spate, there is no let-up in the overall flood situation in Bihar where 1.5 million people continue to reel under the deluge in 11 north Bihar districts.

Rivers like Kosi, Mahananda, Bagmati, Kamala Balan and Adhwara have crossed the danger level at different places along their course, Central Water Commission sources said.

The panchayat pradhans of Malda's Ratua I and Harischandrapur II blocks have alleged inadequate relief for over 50,000 marooned people in the areas.

The Ganga and the Phulhar are flowing above the extreme danger level in the district and the Mahananda, Tangon and the Punarbhaba are in spate.

Twenty-one villages in Mahanandatola gram panchayat and 14 villages at Bilaimari in Ratua are under waist-deep water. Both the areas are cut off from the rest of the block for the past one week. Block development officer (BDO) Lakshman Halder visited the affected places today.