BS News Agency: Terrible Ganga. Bhutni, Mahanandtola police station submerged in water. Police are helplessly floating in boats and conducting surveillance. Bhutni health center is floating in water. Patients have been shifted elsewhere. Water has entered the gram panchayat office. Today, Tuesday, a farmer died after being swept away by the Ganga water. It has been learned that the deceased's name is Dwijen Mandal. He is a resident of Ballitola village in Dakshin Chandipur gram panchayat of Bhutni police station in Malda.
Pictures by Bibhash Lodh, BS News Agency.
Tourism Minister Shankar Ghosh said that the state has formed a high-power committee with the District Magistrate, Assistant District Magistrate, Minister, MLA and Disaster Response Team to deal with the situation. The committee is evacuating the villagers from the banks of the river and taking them to a safe place. Consideration is being given to starting online classes in the schools that are closed. Special measures are being taken for pregnant women in flood-hit areas. The state is also going to take help from Patna and Kanpur IITs to save Bhutni and Ratua from the erosion of the Ganges. The state-of-the-art 'Articulated Concrete Block Mattress Technology' (ACBM) technology may be used. Like the last two years, Bhutni police station has been submerged in the Ganges water this time too. Along with the police station, the surrounding areas are also submerged. Police personnel are performing their duties in boats in the flooded Bhutni. The Minister of State for Irrigation visited the flooded areas to assess the situation. The administration is making arrangements for the people trapped in the water to stay in high places, shelter camps and schools. Relief materials and drinking water are being provided to the victims. The Ganges is already flowing 45 cm above the extreme danger level. More than 30 villages are submerged after the dam in Kesharpur broke. Among them, several villages including Durlavhola, Bhubantola, Kedartola, Maniknagar have been submerged in deep water. More than 35,000 people are living there. Meanwhile, a large area of Ratua has been submerged in water. The only health center in Kataha district, Mahanandtola Health Center, has been submerged in water. Water has entered the gram panchayat office. 80,000 people from four gram panchayats of Ratua are under water. Flood water is flowing over the road. On this day, Dwijen Mandal was trying to remove a pile of jute from the flood water in Ballitola village of Dakshin Chandipur gram panchayat of Bhutni police station. He was swept away in the flood water. Later, the villagers recovered his body. According to administration sources, engineers from the River Research Institute and the Central Designing Office have reached Bhutni from Kolkata. The state is considering using articulated concrete block mattress technology to protect Bhutni and Ratua from erosion by the Ganga. This is an advanced hard-armor engineering system. It is said to be particularly effective in protecting the river banks and embankments from the strong impact of the current. For this, the help of expert engineers from IIT colleges in Patna and Kanpur will be taken.