Malda faces flood threat

Statesman News Service

MALDA, Aug 16: The Malda district administration fears fresh floods here following heavy rainfall in Bihar over the past three days. The water level in the Ganges is rising steadily from yesterday. The Malda irrigation officials recorded the water level in the Ganges at 24.62 metres at Manikchak Ghaat this afternoon.The water level was constant at 24.52 metres at the same point in Malda during the last two days, officials, said. Earlier, the water level in the Ganges went up to 24.94 metres in Malda when floods struck Bihar in the first week of this month. The executive engineer of Malda irrigation department, Mr Soumen Misra, said the water level in the Ganges would continue to rise in the next five days and might cross 25 metres here, just below the extreme danger level. Based on the records of the Central Water Commission, Mr Misra said that the upper catchment areas received excessive rainfall on an average 100 mm each day in the last three days. “The rain still continues in these areas,” he said. According to Mr Misra, Bihar’s Munger district received 240 mm rainfall on Tuesday and 245 mm on Wednesday. Apart from Munger, all stations in the upper catchments received heavy rains in Bihar. The water level in the Ganges has risen by at least two feet at all points in Bihar, posing flood threat to Malda. Meanwhile, owing to fluctuation in Ganges’ water level, erosion continues on the bank of the river at Domhat in Manikchak block. The erosion has affected cropland in the area.The Farakka Barrage officials, however, said it is not the right time to take up anti-erosion work at Domhat. “Domhat is a vulnerable site and since it is the flood time, we have decided to postpone anti-erosion work there. If we start the project now, it would mean nothing but wastage of money,” FBP general manager Mr Naresh Kumar, said. The FBP, it may be recalled, has taken up permanent anti erosion project at an estimated expenditure of Rs 20 crore to protect the 2.5-km long bank line at Domhat.