Bengal flood toll rises to 46 with 7 more deaths

Kolkata: The flood toll in West Bengal rose to 47 today with the death of seven more persons in the last 24 hours even as the situation improved as water level of rivers receded after a drop in the incessant rainfall.

"As it is raining less and the dams are also controlling the release of water, the situation in the affected districts is improving every day," a senior official of the State Disaster Management department said here.

Around 27 lakh people in 106 blocks of 14 districts of West Bengal were hit by the flood and around 311 relief camps have been opened for them, he said.
Dhaniakhali of Hooghly district and Ghatal in West Midnapore district are the two worst affected areas due to floods, he said.

"Situation at these two places is not that good. Water is receding at a very slow pace. Administration is keeping an eye on the situation and our volunteers are working day in and day out," he said.
Meanwhile, around 59,398 hectares of paddy seedbed has been damaged out of the 3,17,675 hectares of cultivated land.

According to an official at the agriculture department, out of 10,82,285 hectares of paddy seedbeds, 1,79,321 hectares were damaged.

"We have nearly 11,340 MT of paddy seeds stored which we will start distributing to the farmers from August 15," he said.