Kolkata: Flood fury raged in four West Bengal districts claiming nine lives over the past four days while the army was deployed in East Midnapore district to repair a 75-metre embankment, officials said yesterday.
Eighty blocks are affected, over 83,000 hectares of crops destroyed and 71,000 makeshift and permanent houses damaged in the calamity, caused by days of heavy rainfall due to cyclone Phailin and release of water into rivers by the reservoirs in Jharkhand.
The situation was grim in East Midnapore district where seven deaths have been reported. An army column was deployed to seal a breach in an embankment on river Kangsabati that caused a worrisome situation in the lower parts of East Midnapore.
“The flow of water along the breach is fast and sealing the breach is underway which poses a challenge. The troops from the Barrackpore army cantonment are working to restore the embankment even as additional columns from Sukhna cantonment are also on their way to the site. IANS
