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Rivers overflow after heavy rain, affecting 1.2 million and claiming 10 lives in West Bengal, India

kolkata-west-bengal-rain-flood-september-2021

More than 1.2 million people have been affected after heavy rains over the past couple of days caused rivers to overflow and embankments to fail in the Indian state of West Bengal. The situation worsened after dam releases in the neighboring state of Jharkhand.

At least 10 people have lost their lives and 1 300 were forced to evacuate, state authorities said Monday, September 20, 2021.

The worst-hit areas are the districts of Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur.

19 teams from India's National Disaster Response Force have been deployed to affected areas to carry out rescue and evacuation operations and to distribute relief supplies.1

Extensive damage to agriculture was also reported.

YouTube video

YouTube video

West Bengal capital Kolkata also saw flooding on September 20, after more than 100 mm (3.9 inches) of rain fell in 6 hours to 07:00 LT. In 24 hours to 08:30 LT, the city received 142 (5.6 inches). 2

The drainage pumping stations of Kolkata Municipal Corporation recorded 136 mm (5.3 inches) rain at Dhapa, 115 mm (4.5 inches) at Kalighat, and 109 mm (4.3 inches) at Ballygunge.

The India Meteorological Department said the rain was caused by a cyclonic circulation moving from the northwest Bay of Bengal to Gangetic West Bengal and strong moisture incursion.

References:

1 India – 10 Killed in West Bengal Floods – FloodList

2 Kolkata Rains: Videos Of Waterlogged Airport, Streets Flood Twitter Amid Non-Stop Downpour – Outlook

Featured image credit: Moner Duyaar (stillshot)

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