Flood death toll rises to three in West Bengal

Kolkata: The death toll in the current wave of floods in West Bengal rose to three on Wednesday as the state government requisitioned an Air Force helicopter to airdrop food in the worst-affected areas of the Purusura block in Hooghly district.

"Till Tuesday, two deaths were reported. On Wednesday, we have received report of one more death from Danton-I block in East Midnapore district," state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta told reporters after reviewing the situation.

He said following a request from the state government, the Defence Ministry had deployed a helicopter for dropping food packets in the Pursura block from Thursday.

Stating that five districts had been affected by the flood caused by depression-induced heavy rains and release of over three lakh cusecs from the DVC reservoirs till Wednesday, he said the situation in Howrah and Hooghly was causing concern.