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Kolkata, Oct 11 (IANS) With the recovery of one more body in the last 24 hours, the total death toll in flood and landslide-hit Hills, Terai and Dooars regions of West Bengal has reached 40.
The total official death toll stood at 39 as of Thursday morning, according to data compiled by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the district administrations in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri. Now the death toll has reached 40.
On Friday, the body of a woman was recovered near Tudu tea garden at Bamundanga in Nagarakata in Jalpaiguri district. An official of the Jalpaiguri district administration confirmed that the body was found floating in the flowing current of a local river.
The deceased has not been identified yet.
Meanwhile, amid complaints from many locals in the hill, Terai and Dooars regions that many important identities and other important documents were destroyed or washed away in the disaster, the state government has decided to run special camps in the area to address issues related to loss or damage of documents.
District police officials in Alipurduar district, adjacent to Jalpaiguri, have already started operating some mobile camps in parts of the district for this purpose.
Alipurduar Superintendent of Police Y. Raghuvanshi said, “In the current situation, it is difficult for the affected people to reach the police station and report the loss of their documents. Therefore, we have started some mobile camps in the districts to address the issues of the affected people. These mobile camps will continue to function till the situation becomes normal.”
Meanwhile, another issue in the forest-adjacent areas of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts of North Bengal is that due to lack of essential food in the forests after the disaster, wild animals are likely to reach the areas in search of food, increasing the possibility of increase in man-animal conflict in the area.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will once again leave for North Bengal on October 13 and this time her tour will be limited to the mountains only.
Earlier this week, the Chief Minister visited North Bengal and during that time his activities were mainly limited to the plains.
–IANS
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