The death toll in the current wave of floods in West Bengal shot up to more than 1100 as fresh areas of north Twenty four Parganas district were inundated on Wednesday, despite an overall improvement in the situation in the state. Deputy Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee confirmed 1040 deaths in the nine affected districts, while 100 more, described as missing, were feared to have been washed away by the flood waters. Finance minister Asim Dasgupta said that the flood waters of Ichamati entered the rural areas of Basirhat sub-division inundating several areas in north Twenty four Parganas district. The minister informed that the flood waters at Bagda, Bongaon and Gaighata had already receded to some extent while the situation in Swarupnagar was also improving, but the water level in Basirhat was likely to increase. “The situation was still grave in many areas of Nadia, one of the worst affected districts,” he said. The state government on Wednesday sanctioned Rs.107 crore for providing relief to the flood-hit people and another Rs.22 crore for rebuilding of damaged houses. Dr. Dasgupta admitted that despite an overall improvement in the situation, relief material, dispatched by the government could not reach all places because of inaccessibility in many areas. So far, an estimated 70 per cent of the relief sent from the state level could actually reach 7503 flood-hit villages in 155 blocks, he reported. The finance minister also informed that the state government had decided to purchase tarpaulins and tablets from other states to purify water, as its stocks were nearly exhausted. Bureau Report