KOLKATA: Two people were killed and nearly 11.5 lakh affected in certain districts of south Bengal by floods caused when large quantities of water were released over the past two days from the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) reservoirs .
Vast stretches of Howrah, Hooghly, the two Midnapores and Burdwan could go under water tomorrow as the DVC released 2.5 lakh cusecs today following heavy rain in Jharkhand and parts of Bengal.
Ananya Dutta
KOLKATA: Twenty-three persons were killed when a severe cyclonic storm accompanied by heavy rain brought by Cyclone Aila lashed the city and some districts of West Bengal on Monday. The death toll could be higher: reports from the districts were only coming in. Many people were injured.
Residents of two villages in Howrah ~ which were declared Nirmal Gram by the Centre ~ do not have safe drinking water, basic sanitation system and power.
Marsh Mongoose Herpestes palustris is the only extant endemic mammal of the East Kolkata wetlands, which has been declared a RAMSAR site in 2002. Since its first description by the scientists of the Zoological Survey of India, the population of this species has dwindled to an alarming state due to reclamation of the Salt Lake City and Rajarhat expansion, as well as from other anthropogenic causes. Recently, during a field survey only a small population of this endangered mongoose was found in a single location.
Birds at the Santragachhi jheel. (Sanat Kumar Sinha)
Fewer birds have made the Santragachhi jheel their home this winter. Overgrowth of water hyacinth in the 13,75,000sq ft lake, the largest hub of waterfowl around the city, could be one of the reasons, according to experts.
A STAFF REPORTER
Calcutta, Jan. 14: Food and beverage company PepsiCo today announced its decision to pump an additional Rs 250 crore into its factory at Sankrail, Howrah.
PepsiCo subsidiary Frito-Lay manufactures and markets a variety of chips and snacks from the Rs 500-crore unit.
Even after controlling Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) for over two decades, the CPI-M led board has failed to stop pollution created by industries in most of its wards.
The Left Front government may claim to give equal importance to both industrialisation and agriculture, but nearly 30,000 villagers of 20 villages in Uluberia do not believe them. For they have to incur huge financial losses every year as their crops are damaged by contaminated water used for irrigation. The water they use comes from the Hangar canal, which they say has become contaminated with poisonous residue, left over by "illegal" liquor factories.
