At least 150,000 people have been
rendered homeless due to heavy rainfall in a large portion of southern West
Bengal, including Sundarbans, in the past three days, an official said Monday.
Houses were swept away during the heavy downpour and embankments were breached
at several places in the tidal mangrove forest that is the Sundarbans, forcing
villagers to move.
'At least 1.5 lakh (150,000) people have been rendered homeless across the
state. Many areas of Sundarbans, including Patharpratima, Kultali, Gosaba,
Basanti and Sagar Island in Kolkata's neighbouring South 24 Parganas district
have been affected by the rain,' said state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta.
'The rains have also caused damage and human displacement in areas like
Hingalganj and Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district,' he added.
According to official sources, the state government has already sent relief
material to both South and North 24-Parganas, besides East Midnapore, West
Midnapore, Murshidabad, Bankura and Purulia districts - the other rain-affected
areas.
Murshidabad has recorded 21 cm of rainfall in the past three days - the highest
in the state.