Flood water recedes from most areas of six districts in Bengal

The improvement in the flood situation has been aided by little or no rainfall in the past few days in the six distrits of Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Cooch Behar and Malda district. 

"We have got no report of fresh death from any of the six districts in north Bengal. Water is receding and people are returning home. We are assisting them with relief materials including rice, pulses, and other essential items," the officer of the state disaster management said. 

"We are also distributing medicines among the affected people. This is a step to resist outbreak of disease generally witnessed as an aftermath of flood," he said adding that bus services were resuming gradually in the affected districts. 

Nearly 59 lakh people were affected by the flood and over six lakh hectares of crop damaged with an estimated loss of Rs 7,000 crore, the state agricultural department said.