Around 1.5 lakh residents of Bhutni, an islet in the Ganga at Malda district are reeling under the threat of an imminent flood this monsoon.
A 50-metre-long stretch of an embankment at Dakshin Chandipur area, which used to protect the islet from the river's monsoon rampage, was swept away by the swollen river early on Wednesday.
Last year, the state irrigation department built the embankment by spending a sum of ₹1.35 crore.
The Bhutni islet is located in the Manikchak block of the district.
“The situation seems to be alarming. Our first concern is to rescue the people and provide them with adequate relief. People have been being shifted to flood shelters. The police are alerting people to move to safer places. Meanwhile, the irrigation department is taking steps to handle the situation,” said Nitin Singhania, the district magistrate of Malda.
Singhania, along with administrative and police officials, visited Bhutni on Wednesday to take stock of the situation. They also visited the Kaliachak-III block.
Later, the district magistrate held a series of meetings with officials of the irrigation department and some others to work out a plan so that the situation could be handled on a war footing.
“The situation in some other parts of Manikchak is also vulnerable. The Paschim Ratanpur area in Ratua-I block is also vulnerable. The situation is deteriorating in Birnagar-I and Pardeonapur-Sovapur panchayats of the Kaliachak-III block," the DM said.
The embankment breach prompted residents of Dakshin Chandipur to ask the administration tough questions.
“How can an embankment, which is barely one year old, develop cracks and get swept away? We have grave doubts about the quality of the construction work,” said villager Ghaneshwar Mandal.
“If the damaged stretch is not repaired in the next 48 hours to stop water from gushing into the islet from Ganga, most of the areas of Bhutni would be flooded,” he added.
Since Tuesday evening, it rained heavily across north Bengal and Sikkim. Rainfall tapered off by Wednesday late afternoon.
Swimming protest
In Raiganj town of North Dinajpur, waterlogging was seen everywhere.
Biswajit Lahiri, a former BJP president of North Dinajpur, who accused the Trinamool-run civic board of failing to develop proper sewerage in the town, resorted to a unique protest against the municipality.
Lahiri swam along a stretch of the waterlogged MG Road, a prominent thoroughfare of the town, to showcase the "drainage failure".
People waded through waterlogged roads to reach their workplaces. Children were seen trudging through water to reach schools.
“Due to waterlogging, we could not open the shops. Also, some others had to face losses as water entered their shops and damaged goods,” said Chandan Bhowmik, a shop owner.
Rain damage
In Kalimpong, a part of an under-construction bridge collapsed on NH717A, a road parallel to Sikkim and Kalimpong via the Dooars, on Wednesday morning.
“The NHIDCL is widening this highway. Due to the collapse of a portion of the unfinished bridge, the area saw traffic snarls,” said a source.
In the Dooars, several tea plantations got waterlogged.
Residents of Alipurduar town also bore the brunt of the downpour as almost half of the 20 wards got waterlogged.
“It has also rained in Bhutan, hence water levels of most rivers (Kaljani, Torsha, Dima, Basra, Rydak and Sankosh) that flow downstream into Alipurduar from Bhutan have swelled. The state irrigation department has issued a primary alert as it might flood if it rains further,” said an official in the district administration.
In Cooch Behar, waterlogging occurred in Dinhata. It has rained in some other places of the district, sources said.