Nearly 25,000 flood- and erosion-affected people in Bhutni, Malda, have received financial assistance after the Kesharpur ring embankment breach left parts of three gram panchayats submerged for almost two weeks, according to a report by Anandabazar – West Bengal.
The payments were ordered during an administrative meeting at Mathurapur, where the state government directed officials to transfer ₹1.8 lakh each to families whose homes were completely damaged and ₹90,000 each to those whose properties suffered partial damage. The money was sent directly to beneficiaries’ bank accounts after damage assessments were completed.
The report said the breach occurred on 3 September, allowing water from the Ganga to enter residential areas in Bhutni, a flood-prone part of Malda district’s Manikchak area. Houses were damaged, farmland was inundated and many families lost household belongings during the prolonged flooding.
The state government has allocated ₹242 crore for assistance to people affected by the floods. The package includes direct financial support as well as food and mosquito nets distributed ahead of Durga Puja. Assistance was also provided to 5,000 flood-affected families in the form of new clothes for the festival.
The report attributed the relief announcement to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who said disaster-response personnel and central and state agencies had worked together during the emergency. He also named Joel Murmu and Khagen Murmu for their role in the response. His remarks included criticism of the previous government’s distribution of clothing and relief material.
The immediate relief package follows damage to approximately 1,400 metres of embankment. The administration has said that reconstruction of the damaged section will be undertaken and that erosion-control work will be planned with advice from a specialist team from IIT Kanpur.
The state has reportedly sent a proposal of ₹3,300 crore to the Centre for wider erosion-control measures, of which ₹500 crore has been approved so far, according to the report. The source did not provide details of the approval order, the release schedule or the specific works covered by the sanctioned amount.
Agriculture has also been affected. The administration said paddy cultivation would not be possible in Bhutni during the current season because of the flooding. Departments dealing with agriculture and food processing have been instructed to support the cultivation of alternative crops, including black gram, green gram and jute.
The payments address immediate household losses, while the proposed embankment reconstruction and erosion-control programme will determine how the area responds to the next flood cycle. The administration’s next stated steps are to rebuild the damaged embankment, implement crop-support measures and undertake erosion-prevention work with technical advice.
