Dilip Pandit, a resident of Caltex More in Malbazar, on Friday filed a police complaint against the local municipality, alleging that an embankment constructed on the Mal river had led to the flash flood that had killed his wife and son on Wednesday night.

The complaint at Malbazar police station fuelled the ongoing political debate on the reasons that led to the flash flood in which eight people died.

A political campaign is being spearheaded by the BJP and the CPM which blamed the “embankment” for the tragedy.

The civic body had built an embankment on the river which caused the flash flood... If they hadn’t built the embankment, the disaster wouldn’t have happened. That is why I have filed a police complaint. I want them to investigate the incident and take stringent legal steps against all those who took the decision,” said 38-year-old Dilip.

On Wednesday, like hundreds of others, Dilip’s wife Bibha Devi, 28, and their eight-year-old son Anash had been to the riverbank to witness the immersion of Durga idols. They had walked to the dry river bed to watch the immersion.

As the water level rose, Bibha and Anash could not make it to the riverbank and were swept away by the swollen river, along with some others. Later, their bodies were found downstream.

Swapan Saha, the chairman of the Trinamul Congress-run municipality, denied that the civic body had built an embankment.

“It would be wrong to say we built an embankment which caused the flash flood. It is an unfortunate incident but it would be wrong to blame us,” said Saha.

Asked about the embankment charge, a source said authorities had built a raised patch near the site of the tragedy on the river using boulders and sand to enable vehicles carrying idols to enter waters. ‘The complainant might have referred to the raised patch as the embankment,” said the source.

Some residents who live in ward 2 — through which the river passes — said they had witnessed similar flash floods earlier also because of intense showers in the upper catchment areas.

Officials of Jalpaiguri district administration, who are conducting an inquiry into the incident, have said they are mulling over a proposal to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) which should be followed at all ghats of rivers where idols are immersed after Puja every year.

District magistrate Moumita Godara Basu furnished some photographs and asserted that a 12-member team of civil defence had been posted on the riverbank during the immersion on Wednesday night.

“Announcements were also made through the public address system that the water level was rising. As people were swept away, the civil defence acted and many people were rescued,” she added.