West Bengal govt cautions 7 districts on possible flood situation

The West Bengal government on Monday said that there is a high possibility of flood in seven districts of the state due to continued incessant rainfall in the upper catchment areas of neighbouring Jharkhand.

Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi on Monday afternoon held an urgent virtual meeting with senior officials of the districts of Paschim Bardhaman, Bankura, Birbhum, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Medinipur, Hooghly and Howrah and directed them to immediately take all forms of precautionary measures.

"During the meeting, the chief secretary directed all District Magistrates and SPs to immediately identify low-lying and flood-prone areas as well as start monitoring waterlogging and embankment breaches and take proper steps for their remedies," an official statement said.

"The chief secretary informed the meeting that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rainfall to continue till October 5 with heavy rainfall predicted tomorrow. The well-marked low-pressure area is currently hovering over Jharkhand and is likely to continue there for some more time. This will continue to cause high precipitation and will result in high inflow into the dams," it added.

It claimed that rainfall in Jharkhand was measured more than 50 mm in the upper catchment area on October 1.

The district administration and police authorities were also directed to keep adequate stock of relief materials including flood-fighting materials like sandbags for embankment protection in low-lying vulnerable areas, it said.

"The district administrations were also asked to inform Nabanna (state secretariat) if any area receives unusually higher rainfall, as the water release would need to take into account the precipitation in the lower reaches also," the statement said.

During the meeting convened on the instruction of the chief minister and attended by officials of the Irrigation and Waterways and Disaster Management departments and ADG ( Law & Order), the Integrated Command Centres were also asked to be kept operational in districts, it said.

A 5-hourly report by the districts will be shared with the disaster management 24x7 control room on rainfall, river water levels, embankment breaches and evacuation in case the situation deteriorates.

Executive Engineers from the Irrigation and Waterways Department to keep close liaison with the district administration in this regard.

Miking to be done in those areas along with preparatory measures for evacuation of people to a safer location, if required.

Adequate reserve of relief material including other flood-fighting materials like sandbags, etc, for embankment protection should be kept in stock in low-lying vulnerable areas. Appropriate lighting arrangements are to be made for relief and rescue operations.

It claimed that the inflow into Maithon Dam is currently 60,000 cusec and at Panchet Dam is 73,000 cusec.

"The release from the dams downstream was made 1,00,000 cusec at 9 am onwards today. However, considering the weather prediction and the decreasing cushion level of the dams to accommodate the continuing high inflow of water, the release may have to be increased in the coming hours in a calibrated manner," it claimed.

The Irrigation and Waterways Department will be in touch with the DVC and Jharkhand authorities and keep a close watch over the situation.