Bankura: A 70-year-old man drowned and over 2,500 villagers were rendered homeless when several low lying areas in and around Bankura were inundated by the Gandheswari following heavy rains.

Disaster management officials in Bankura said the district had recorded 224mm of rainfall since 6am on Sunday resulting in the river swelling and spilling the banks.

Large swathes of areas in Bankura 2, Gangajalghati and Mejia blocks and a part of Bankura municipality were submerged.

Two two-storied concrete houses at Junbedia village, on the outskirts of Bankura town, collapsed under the impact of surging water from a canal connected with the Gandheswari river.

No one was injured as the occupants of the houses had already been evacuated.

Altogether, 750 concrete and mud houses either collapsed or were damaged in the three blocks.

Gunamoy Bhandari, 70, a resident of Nagardanga in Mejia, drowned in a canal while trying to reach a dry place after his home was inundated. Sources said he could not fathom the canal's depth as the village was inundated. 

Traffic on Durgapur-Bankura Road was stopped as water started flowing over the bridge at Satighat near here. Vehicles, mostly trucks and buses, were left stranded at either end of the bridge.

The district administration set up two relief camps in Bankura 2 block later in the afternoon and deployed two speedboats to rescue marooned people.