Dasgupta: Water worry

Calcutta, Oct. 1: The flood situation has worsened in the state with reports pouring in from various districts about fresh inundation and breaching of embankments.

Finance minister Asim Dasgupta today said the state has lost Rs 300 crore ? Rs 150 crore in the fisheries sector alone ? because of floods. Over seven lakh people in North and South 24-Parganas and East and West Midnapore have been affected by the floods and the high tide on September 18.

?We?re are also trying to persuade insurance companies to extend cover for fishermen who have been badly hit in the floods,? Dasgupta said. The state government has decided to extend short-term loans taken by farmers into mid-term loans, he said.

The finance minister?s comments came after a stock-taking meeting at Writers? Buildings this afternoon with irrigation minister Biswanath Chowdhury, fisheries minister Kiranmoy Nanda, chief secretary A.K. Deb, health secretary Kalyan Bagchi, as well as district magistrates of the four districts and sabhadipatis of the affected areas.

The state irrigation department and the panchayats have already repaired the 411 embankments damaged in the floods. Relief materials, including 37,000 tarpaulins, 8.90 metric tonnes of rice and wheat, 50 lakh halogen tablets and 1.5 lakh pouches of drinking water are being sent to the affected areas, Dasgupta said.

The government has also submitted to governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi a report on arrangements made for drinking water for the tidal wave-affected areas in North and South 24-Parganas. Around one lakh people in the Sunderbans belt were affected following a tidal wave.

The most affected areas include Sandeshkhali, Hasnabad, Hingalganj, Basanti, Gosaba and Kultali.

The governor had, according to officials at Writers? Buildings, particularly sought a report from the public health engineering department on the steps taken to provide safe drinking water to the affected people. ?We submitted the report on Friday, stating in detail the efforts to supply drinking water and to prevent the accumulated water from being polluted,?? said a joint secretary in the department, J.N. Banerjee.

?We are distributing nearly 35,000 packets of drinking water daily in the relief camps,? Banerjee said.

?Around 3,500 tubewells that were inundated have been re-sunk. The height of some tubewells that were submerged have been increased by sinking additional pipes,? an official said.