Torrential rains in West Bengal, India, have triggered flooding that has killed 16 people

August 4th Banerjee, chief minister of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, confirmed that 16 people had been killed, hundreds of thousands of farmers had lost their livelihoods and infrastructure such as homes, roads, bridges and electricity had been severely damaged in the state’s recent floods triggered by heavy rains.

Heavy rains in West Bengal have reportedly caused rivers and dams to rise, flooding six areas and forcing the evacuation of nearly a second million people. Banerjee visited the Haura area on the 4th and assessed the damage in six areas. She wrote to Indian Prime Minister Narebeen Modi calling for some dams to be revamped to avoid more disasters.