Around 1.2 lakh residents of the Namkhana, Patharpratima and Sagar blocks in the Sunderbans have been struggling to fetch drinking water since Cyclone Yaas, which made landfall last Wednesday, left large swathes of the region flooded and inaccessible.

Thousands of villagers from far-flung areas of the Sunderbans in South 24-Parganas, who have lost their home and livelihood to the storm, have no option but to walk several kilometres every day to collect drinking water, said forest department officials who are conducting surveys of the affected areas and engaged in relief work.

The deep tubewells that became dysfunctional after the cyclone were repaired in the Namkhana block, where around 24,000 people live, the official said. But potable water is still scarce in other areas of the storm-hit Sunderbans.

“The tubewells that are functional are too few compared with the number of people who depend on them. Adding to the problem, the rivers are still in spate, making the islands inaccessible from the mainland,” the official said.

“We have been walking 2km every day since Thursday, carrying plastic jars and cans, to fetch drinking water from the nearest range office,” said Nilratan Das, a resident of Bhagabatpur village in the Namkhana block. “All deep tubewells at our village are under water. At home, there is not enough water to soak chira (flattened rice).”

The Matla river, along with several other rivers in the Sunderbans, had witnessed an alarming rise in the water level during high tide on Wednesday under the combined effect of the full moon and Cyclone Yaas.

The surging water breached embankments at many places, leading to flooding of villages and agricultural fields.

“The rivers are still turbulent. Speed boats and watercraft are the only modes of communication. But driving them is a challenge now,” said another official of the forest department.

On Sunday, parts of Saptamukhi, Patibunia and Kankramari in Namkhana and Ramganga and G Plot in Patharpratima remained out of bounds of agencies involved in relief operations.

The South 24-Parganas administration, too, is finding it difficult to reach these areas, officials said.

Only some parts of Mousuni island in Namkhana and Ghoramara in Sagar could be accessed. In Kultali, officials from the local panchayat and the forest department have set up a community kitchen for hundreds of homeless people. But even that is too little, officials said .

“A few of our beat and range offices have been partly restored so that drinking water can be provided to some villagers,” the official said. "The water level during high tide will start coming down from Monday. Hopefully, we will then be able to start relief operations in full swing with the help of NGOs."