Malda, Sept17: District officials have flashed the "extreme danger signal" in the protected areas of the river Fulhar as the swollen river inundated fresh areas of Harishchandrapur in West Bengal's Malda district today. The Fulhar waters were flooding the areas following a damage in the sluice-gate of Teljania and extreme danger signal has been hoisted in Harishchandrapur, Khoira and Ratua areas of the district, official sources said.

If the damaged portion of the Teljania sluice-gate could not be repaired immediately, five to six gram panchayats were likely to be marooned, the block development officials feared. River Ganga was flowing 83 cm above the extreme danger level at 26.13 metres.

The sources said that over 193 villages in the district had been affected by the floods of the Ganga and its tributary Fulhar forcing 25,000 people to take shelter in safer places. Of the 193 affected villages, 112 belonged to Manikchak bloc.

Voluntary organisations like the Ramakrishna Mission had started distributing cooked food packets among the affected people in the district, the sources added. Bureau Report