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West Bengal floods claim 13 lives
by Ajitha Menon

     Kolkata: Incessant rainfall in West Bengal has claimed the lives of at least 13 people in the state. Six people died in East Midnapore District, five in south 24- Parganas District and one each in West Midnapore and Howrah. Over three million people is likely to have been affected by the rains so far. The unseasonal rains came after the June-September monsoon, which triggered severe flooding in places like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Assam. Rains also hit life in Kolkata, which remained flooded, as the cities more than two centuries old drainage system failed to cope with the rising waters. Officials on Sunday said that least 10 people had died in the state due to wall collapses and electrocution, following the rains, and some 50,000 people remained cut off by the floods Relief officials warned the situation could get worse for hundreds of thousands of people living in the Sunderbans region, where two rivers were close to bursting their banks. "We are facing a lot of problems. Water is stagnating everywhere. People are having problems travelling. They have not been able to come out of theirs houses. The Calcutta Municipal Corporation is doing nothing to prevent water logging in drains and puddles. Prices of commodities of daily use have also risen," said Vikram, a local. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee is scheduled to visit the flood-hit areas on Friday.