maldajalpaiguri flood fears loom large over a large section of north bengal in malda and jalpaiguriin north malda the fulohar river which had reached dangerous levels finally breached its embankment on wednesday fresh erosion had started along the banks of the river right from the onset of the monsoon at least 10000 people have been affected with the water level already reaching 2770 metre a red alert has been issuedpossibilities of a flood in jalpaiguri are also very real as several places in the district have gone under water after rivers like kaljani in alipurduar karala in jalpaiguri and basra in hasimara overflowed owing to the incessant downpour in malda a team comprising the additional district magistrate adm the sdo and irrigation officials visited the site and have taken up measures to repair the embankment already 90 of the embankment has been breached we fear greater damage at baharal and ratua if the dyke is not restored soon said sdo subho mukherjeeon tuesday local villagers had attacked irrigation workers when they visited the site two contractors were allegedly thrown into the water people accused them of delaying the embankment repair works sabhadhipati of malda zilla parishad sabina yasmin said their anger is justified irrigation workers never take up the work in the dry season despite our repeated appeals they always start work during monsoon but this is not the time to vent their anger irrigation workers should be allowed to do their workthe sdo informed that work has been resumed amid police protection and the villagers too have been asked to cooperate with them panchayats have already been supplied with relief materials like tarpaulin sheets and foodgrains at kahala and debipur villagers have been asked to leave their homesin jalpaiguri the basra pagli bhutan and pana breached their embankments more than 100000 people have been rendered homelessa 125yearold bridge connecting hasimara and hamiltonganj in the dooars broke down due to the dangerous water revels of the basra access to several tea gardens such as mechpara satali and radharani have been cut offthe irrigation department has sounded a yellow alert in the teesta the situation might worsen as the met department has forecast heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours yellow alerts have also been sounded in kaljani torsa sankosh and jaldhaka riversowing to the rainfall the teesta has suddenly changed course near mekhligunj in cooch behar and has shifted towards the left bank this has already weakened the embankment that protects mekhligunj town from teesta the heavy shower has raised the possibility of that embankment getting breachedalthough the irrigation department has started work for strengthening the left embankment of the teesta in mekhligunj on an emergency basis officials are sceptical about its efficacy