2000 FLOODS OF WEST BENGAL
Category |
: |
Floods. |
Account |
: |
Between 17 September and the end of September,
there were very heavy torrential rains in several districts
as well as in the catchment area of the Bihar Plateau,
leading to rising levels of water in the numerous streams
and rivers that pass through West Bengal. Simultaneous
releases of large amounts of water from the many dams
led to severe flooding in 9 districts. |
Area affected |
: |
6,177 villages in the districts of Murshidabad,
Malda, Birbhum, Burdwan, Nadia, Midnapore, North 24 Parganas,
Howrah, Hoogly and the city of Calcutta. |
People |
: |
Over 18.3 million people in these 9 districts
were affected. |
Casualties |
: |
1,187 people died. |
Livestock |
: |
73,994 cattle heads perished and 2 million
affected. |
Homeless |
: |
1.5 million homes were destroyed or damaged. |
Crop |
: |
1.5 million hectares of standing crops
were flooded, with an estimated production loss of 2.114
million tonnes valued at Rs 10,000 million. |
Damage |
: |
The Government of West Bengal estimates
the damages to property and land at over Rs 30,890 million. |
|
HELP BY
BAPS ORGANISATION
|
|
Centre
|
:
|
BAPS center in Calcutta was involved with relief
work.
|
|
Volunteers
|
:
|
63 BAPS volunteers.
|
|
Area helped
|
:
|
Nabadwip and Krishnanagar in the district of Nadia.
|
|
People
|
:
|
4,170 people received relief from BAPS.
|
|
Appointed by
|
:
|
The Municipal Authorities of Nabadwip.
|
Navadwip, located in the District of Nadia in West Bengal,
was submerged under a record 11 feet of water. Even the main
images at the birthplace of Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had
to be moved to higher floors as the main shrine was submerged.
More than 70% of Navadwip's population was stranded. Huts were
washed away and the homeless were moved to shelter homes and
schools. Many hadn't eaten a proper meal in days. The only
bit of little relief these people had received had been dropped
by the Indian Air Force. With high levels of starvation and
the waters refusing to retreat, BAPS in Calcutta immediately
began relief operations for Navadwip and neighbouring Krishnanagar.
FOOD DISTRIBUTION
The staple diet for the people of these region is chira (pawa
or flattenced rice) and gud (jaggery) which they soak together
and eat. BAPS took a complete truckload of chira, gud and biscuits
for the flood-affected people of Krishnanagar and Navadwip.
BAPS volunteers first distributed food items to 260 flood-affected
families at Krishnanagar located on the banks of the River
Bhagirathi. From there, using boats and wading through waist-high
water, BAPS volunteers distributed food items consisting of
chira, gud and biscuits to 800 families stranded in the worst
affected areas of Navadwip.
OPINIONS
"The people of Navadwip
are extremely grateful to you. Your organisation is the first
to bring relief to us here in Navadwip."
Jivan Krishna Saha , The vice-chairman
of Navadwip Municipality
Anand Mohan Biswas (MP-Lok Sabha) also expressed
his appreciation at BAPS's timely relief.
|
