North Bengal remains cut off due to floods, toll touches 12

Cooch Behar (West Bengal), Aug 15 : The toll in northern West Bengal due to floods and heavy rains rose to 12 as rail and road connectivity with the rest of the state continued to be in shambles on Tuesday.

Bodies of two unidentified youths were recovered from Kaljani river in Cooch Behar district's Tufanganj taking the toll in north Bengal to 12, police said.

The body of a middle-aged woman was recovered from the same river in the district's Block No.2 on Monday night.

The water level in some of the inundated areas in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts has gone down after a let up in incessant rains that lashed the area most of the last week. However, the flood situation has gone worse in Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur districts.

Many parts of Malda were flooded by the Mahananda river while the water of Kulik river in North Dinajpur district has inundated parts of National Highway 34, that is considered as the lifeline of road connectivity between south and north Bengal.

The Sudhani rail bridge in North Dinajpur district was partially washed away in the floods, bringing the train service between the Northeast and the rest of the country to a standstill, a senior railway official said.

Another rail bridge in Malda district on the same line has been blocked as the river under the bridge is flowing above danger level.

"Around 40-metre stretch of the railway bridge No.133 near the Kishanganj railway station has been washed away in the flood. The repair work can only be resumed after the water level in the area goes down. We have to assess the amount of damage before letting the trains ply over that bridge," Northeast Frontier Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Pranav Jyoti Sharma said.

"The repair work would take some time. Till that time, the region would remain cut off from the rest of the country as there are no alternative train routes," he added.