A 101-year-old woman and 30 others had been stranded for two days on the roof of a one-storey building at Khanakul in the flood-affected Hooghly district and it took a helicopter of the Indian Army to rescue them on Monday.

All the 31 persons, including centenarian Janhabi Samanta, got stuck on the roof after heavy rain and water released by various barrages, including Damodar Valley Corporation, triggered floods in Khanakul’s Dhanyagheri area.

The NDRF and the local administration could not rescue the persons despite several efforts and finally, the state government sought the army’ help on Monday morning. Local people said they couldn’t recall such a flood in recent memory in which people needed to be airlifted.

“It was a challenge for us to save those 31 persons as we had no option to reach there. The challenge was to airlift the 101-year-old woman as she was reluctant to leave out of fear. However, after several hours of counselling, we finally managed to save the woman,” said Abhishek Mandal, the sub-divisional police officer in Arambagh.

The elderly woman said she, along with others, survived without food for 48 hours as the ground floor of their home was flooded.

A woman being airlifted from the building at Khanakul. Ananda Adhikari

“I had never witnessed such a flood earlier. I had never flown before and I was afraid after I saw it (the chopper). I told them that I would not fly but they assured me that there was nothing be afraid of. I have not had food for the past 48 hours,” said Janhabi, who was given a meal immediately after the chopper landed at Arambagh.

Many of the stranded people lived nearby and took refuge on the roof of the building.

Shibshankar Samanta, a grandson of the elderly woman, who was also rescued by the chopper, said: “My grandmother did not agree to come with us and said she would be happy on the roof. She came alone on the last trip. We did not want to lose her.”

The army helicopter conducted five sorties, the last one was for Janhabi alone.

Sources said over 200 villages in three Bengal districts, including in Hooghly’s Khanakul, West Midnapore’s Ghatal and parts in rural Howrah like Udayanarayanpur, had been facing devastating flood for the past three days and around five lakh people had been affected across the state.

Officials said the situation worsened in Khanakul and Ghatal after the DVC discharged around 1.46 lakh cusec water till Monday morning.

“As all rivers and canals were filled because of rainwater, the areas flooded as soon as different barrages, including the DVC in Durgapur, released water,” said an official in West Midnapore.

In Ghatal alone, around 2.5 lakh people have been affected and five persons died in the past three days.

“The five persons have died either by drowning or snakebite. We have rescued around 50,000 people from villages and sheltered them at hundreds of camps,” said Rashmi Kamal, the West Midnapore district magistrate.

Panchayat and rural development minister Subrata Mukherjee, along with state irrigation minister Soumen Mahapatra, on Monday visited Ghatal to provide relief.

“Because of lack of funds from the Centre, the Ghatal master plan could not be implemented. The flood situation is the worst here and our government is trying hard to rescue the people,” said Mukherjee, the minister.

Sources said several hospitals and correctional homes were underwater in Ghatal and it had become a challenge for the local administration to reach the affected people with healthcare services.

At least two dozen villages have gone under water since Sunday morning in Howrah’s Udaynarayanpur. Inundation has been reported from different pockets of Birbhum, East Burdwan and Bankura as well.

Additional reporting by Abhijeet Chatterjee