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In the aftermath of cyclone Phailin and incessant rains, several parts of West Bengal have been flooded. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has also written to the Prime Minister on the issue, even as an emergency meeting was convened today at her residence to take stock of the situation.
Three days of downpour due to the peripheral effect of cyclone Phailin has caused the water level in Panchet dam of Damodar Valley Corporation to breach its danger mark and Maithon to hover near it.
In the letter to the Prime Minister, Banerjee has said that the state was not alerted before release of water from DVC, leading to floods in West Bengal.
Release of water from Kagnsabati river, led to a embankment breach at Garhpurusottampur in Panskura block today, which is likely to affect Panskura, Tamluk and Nandakumar blocks in Purba Medinipore.
“All the BDOs have been alerted and necessary steps have been taken,” said a district official.
The cyclone affected at least 10,000 people in Purulia district of West Bengal, adjoining Jharkhand.
District magistrate Tanmoy Chakrabarty said 2000 houses were fully damaged and 1500 houses were also partially destroyed in the heavy rains that lashed the district from Sunday night.
An eight-year-old girl was killed and her mother injured in the heavy rains when their kutcha house collapsed in the storm on Sunday. The district had received 165 mm of rainfall since Sunday, the highest in several decades. Although, the rains had stopped last night, the sky was overcast and there were intermittent showers today. Government relief has been sent to the affected villages and all the 20 block development officers of the district have been asked to send their reports, he said.
