North Bengal flood threat recedes as rainfall reduces, river levels start dipping

North Bengal flood threat recedes as rainfall reduces, river levels start dippingJuly 17, 2023Kolkata, July 17 (IANS) The threat of imminent floods in pockets of north Bengal has been reduced to a great extent following a quick decline in the extent of rainfall there since Sunday evening. Bringing further relief to the people residing in these pockets, the water levels in the rivers of north Bengal, which had been swelling till Sunday afternoon, have also started receding.Sources in the Irrigation Department said that in the last few days, the water levels have been swelling in the hill rivers of Teesta and Jaldhaka, among others.”However with the rate of rainfall declining substantially since Sunday evening, the water levels of these rivers have also started receding. This is of course a matter of great relief for the districts of north Bengal, especially the plains of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts,” an Irrigation Department official said.However, he said, the condition was quite serious till Sunday as water from Teesta started flowing in certain town areas like Jalpaiguri and Mainaguri, among others.Residents in certain localities in these cities, which were flooded with the overflowing water from these hill rivers, had to be shifted to safe shelters. “They have now started going back to their respective localities,” the official said.Further relief for the people of north Bengal from imminent flood threat has come as there had not been any further prediction of heavy rainfall in the coming days. There had been predictions of sporadic rainfall in the districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, and Cooch Behar.On Sunday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced her decision to send a high-level delegation there to review the situation. She said that the delegation was being sent following heavy rainfall in certain pockets that resulted in the rise in the water level of certain rivers there. There had been excessive rainfall in certain pockets and North Bengal from even before the panchayat elections in the state on July 8. The Chief Minister also had several meetings with top bureaucrats of the state on this count.–IANSsrc/vd