Bengal flood toll reaches 90, anger erupts

MALDA: The flood toll in North Bengal crossed 90 on Thursday amid more deaths in badly-affected Malda as victims continued to vent their anger over what they said was tardy relief.
In Malda, three persons died and the Gazole block office was attacked by flood victims. This follows the recent attacks at Chanchol and Ratua.
According to officials, 80 deaths of the total toll could be attributed to drowning while seven died of snakebite and five others died in wall collapse.The highest toll was recorded at 36 in North Dinajpur
While Malda DM Koushik Bhattacharya put the district drowning toll at 3, other officials felt the figure could be much higher. "On Wednesday, 5-year-old Subho Das fell into Fulohar river and his body is yet to be spotted," an official said. The others who drowned were Jahangir Alam (22) of and Hur Mahammad (40) of Bairgachi in Gazole police station area. Their bodies were found in Old Malda.
As many as 2,54,944 people have been saved and sheltered in 456 camps, officials said. National Highway 34 is virtually closed with water flowing knee-deep and access to heavy vehicles restricted, disrupting North Bengal's links to the south.
The flood situation is particularly critical in remote parts of Harishchandrapur, Ratua and Chanchol, where relief cannot reach due to lack of boats. Ali Mortaza, pradhan of Chandmoni gram panchayat, said: "I have got nothing so far from the block office."
Nabanna officials claimed distributing 12 lakh tarpaulins as about 6.5 lakh houses had been damaged and 58 lakh affected in North Bengal.