Stating that the deaths due to the recent flash floods in Bengal were avoidable, Bose said: “It is a norm that before releasing water from any dam, the neighbouring states, which are likely to be affected, should be warned 48 hours in advance.”

“Jharkhand released the waters recently without warning us and the two districts were flooded. The state government has already got in touch with its Jharkhand counterpart on the issue,” added Bose.

Bose said if there was a warning given by the Jharkhand government, people could have been evacuated. Since there will be more rains, the Jharkhand government has been asked to release water in phases.

The state secretary of CPM did not fall short of lambasting Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee over her remarks that the floods were ‘man-made’. “I have never heard that man can be behind floods, cyclones, tsunami and other natural disasters. Have neither heard of ‘women-made’ floods also,” said Bose.

Talking about the delay in the formation of panchayat samities and zilla parishads, Bose said in some districts unity among the Left Front is being undermined with the formation of the boards.

“During our meeting today, we have reiterated the importance of preserving the unity of the Front, leaving behind whatever happened in the panchayat elections. The sense of unity should percolate to the grassroots,” said Bose.

Keeping in mind the deplorable condition of the Public Distribution System (PDS), the state government has initiated a mechanism — yet to be launched — to revamp the PDS. “We want more items to be included in the list of essential commodities supplied through PDS,” said Bose. “A mechanism is being developed to ensure that the commodities reach the people. It will take time, but we have to do it,” added Bose.

Flood update
* The death toll in the floods has reached 65.
* Nearly 33 lakh people have been affected by the floods.
* Number of relief camps set up by the government in the twin districts is 1,158.
* Around 2,300 tubewells have been disinfected by the government.
* The government has till date spent Rs 64.60 crore for relief and rehabilitation.

Flood side effects
* Train services on the Kharagpur-Bhadrak line continue to remain disrupted due to heavy rains and flash floods in the Keleghai river. w Against the normal number of 92 trains, that ply on this route daily, at present only 26 trains are plying on this route.
* Officials of South Eastern Railway say that complete restoration of the main line could take anything between six months to one year.
* Besides heavy rains in the coming days, there are possibilities of water release from the Chandii Dam on river Subarnarekha in Jharkhand that could make the situation worse
* Supply of imported coal from paradeep port to Durgapur and Tata steel plants has been affected. Steel plants in Bokaro and Rourkella are also hit. Non-supply of imported coal will result in closure of Durgapur coke oven plant.

Meanwhile, a miffed minister...
State Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta today rued about last week’s incident in which flood-affected victims manhandled three ministers — Minister for Health Suryakanta Mishra, Minister for Water Resource Nandagopal Bhattacharya and Minister of state for Civil Defence Srikumar Mukherjee — during their visit to the area.