A waterlogged street in Balurghat town. Picture by Abhijit Chakrabarty

Balurghat, Oct. 3: A 13-year-old girl was injured when the wall of her house at Kadamtali in Patiram collapsed last night. Two other persons, including a child, who were also injured in similar manner, had to be admitted to Balurghat district hospital today.

Thousands of other residents of Balurghat, Hilli and Kumarganj blocks have been victims of the torrential rain that flooded the three blocks overnight.

A heavy downpour (204 mm) from last night till around 8 in the morning left several places of the three blocks waterlogged, stranding thousands of residents of the area, including 65,000 residents of 23 wards in the Balurghat municipality area. Several mud houses were washed away in wards 12 and 15. The flood-hit residents are being shifted to relief camps here. Similar camps have also been set up at Kumarganj and Hilli.

According to district magistrate Saiyad Safarraj Ahmed, the reason behind the sudden flood is the malfunctioning sluice gates on the canals to the Atreyee river. He also alleged that no one was there to open the gates.

Executive engineer of the irrigation department Dhiraj Dhar, however, denied the charges. ?There have been excessive rains. Even if all the sluice gates are opened in such a situation, you cannot guarantee that the place will not be flooded,? he said.

The district magistrate visited the flooded areas of the town this morning. He assured the people that he would have the sluice gates at Dangikhari and other areas in the town opened so that the accumulated water flows into the Atreyee. The Atreyee is at present flowing below the ?extreme-danger? level. With the rains still continuing, however, Ahmed feared that the situation might worsen.

Once the sluice gates were opened, some of the water in the town, flowed into the river, but that hardly helped the situation in the surrounding areas, a source said.

Vast areas plunged into darkness last night after uprooted trees and branches snapped electric wires. Electric supply is yet to be restored at several places.

The district authorities have sought detailed report from the block development officers about the extent of damage wreaked in their respective areas.

A round-the-clock control room has been opened at the collectorate, where besides senior district officials, policemen and a medical team have been posted. ?We have a ready stock of relief material. We have sent a fax message to welfare minister Biswanath Chowhury to send more consignments to meet the situation,? Ahmed said.

Traffic system of the town has been thrown out of gear as no vehicle can venture out in the water. Rickshaw-pullers, however, made brisk business, theirs being the only vehicle that could make its way through the waterlogged streets.

The day also proved to be a dampner for Puja shoppers.

According to superintendent of the district jail M. Guin, rain water has also entered the jail premises. ?I don?t to know how to manage the situation if the rains continue this way,? Guin said.

The water did not spare the district hospital either. Three doctors and 15 Group-D staff members had to be evacuated from their quarters on the hospital campus and shifted inside the hospital.