Dark clouds form a striking contrast with a pandal modelled like a string of conch shells at Kidderpore in Calcutta.Pictures by Pabitra Das and Dipankar Chatterjee

Krishnagar, Oct. 1: Marooned in his hut and unable to sell his stock of potatoes, which rotted in front of his eyes, Ananda Kundu committed suicide last night in Nadia’s Nabadwip.

Two days ago, Ananda rode a rescue boat to reach his stall at Nabadwip bazaar. He found the market closed.

“He came back and told me no one will buy the potatoes even if he sells them at a reduced rate. ‘How will I live?’ he asked me time and again,” said his wife Sarama.

Ananda, 52, had stocked 1,500 kg of potatoes in his house. “The floodwaters entered Nabadwip town five days ago and he could not sell his stock. We saw the potatoes rotting. The burden of debt weighed him down,” Sarama said.

Ananda had been telling his wife about his worries — his loans and the source of funds for his next crop.

A local police officer said the father of five had bought the potatoes to sell them at a higher price during the festival season. “He thought he would get a good price around this time and had not bargained for the calamity.”

The potatoes were stored in one of the two rooms in his house — about 100 km from Calcutta — into which water rushed in after the Bhagirathi flooded its banks.

Finance minister Asim Dasgupta said at Writers’ Buildings that the flood has killed 90 people across Bengal. Over 80 lakh people have been affected.

The government today released Rs 14 crore for relief, taking the total amount sanctioned to Rs 104 crore. “We have kept Rs 100 crore aside for road repair and distribution of seeds to farmers once the water recedes,” Dasgupta said.

Medical teams have been rushed to the flood-hit areas as over 8,000 people have already reported symptoms of diarrhoea and other enteric diseases.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose today urged supporters to pay Rs 10 each towards flood relief and organise medical teams. He also requested Puja committees to contribute to the chief minister’s fund.

But Navami was mostly sunny in the districts and people thronged pandals in many places that were under water till the other day.