Alarmed by the magnitude of the flood in East and West Medinipur, the state government called in the Army and Air Force to expedite rescue and relief operation. Five people have been killed and over 16 lakh have been affected by the floods. Those killed, includes the former confidential assistant of Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Gautam Basu. He and two others were swept away in the flash floods in the Keleghai river on Tuesday night. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Wednesday held an emergency meeting with finance minister Asim Dasgupta and disaster management minister Mortaza Hussain. After the meeting, Mr Dasgupta said that nearly 53,000 people had been rescued from low-lying areas and 40,000 had taken shelter in relief camps. The state government allocated Rs 2.5 crore for immediate relief work and sought Rs 1000 crore in advance from the Centre for relief and rehabilitation work. Acknowledging that the flood situation had become alarming, Dr Dasgupta said, "In the last three days there have been more than 700 mm rains which is above average in the two districts of Medinipur. Fifty-four blocks and eight municipalities in two districts have been severely affected. Five people have already died in the flash floods and three are untraced." The state government sent an SOS to the defence ministry to send Army personnel. All the rivers including Kaleghai and Subarnarekha are flowing much above the danger level. The Shilavati river is causing havoc in Ghatal area in West Medinipur. State Congress leader Manas Bhuniya said that the situation was grim in Sabang, Pingla, Narayangarh and Gobiballabhpur. Criticising the state government, Mr Bhuniya said: "For the past three days, I have been requesting the chief minister to call in the Army. He has responded 72 hours too late, but so far no relief has reached the flood victims." Mr Dasgupta, however, said that the government had despatched 350 metric ton of rice, 25,000 tarpaulin and two and a half lakh water pouches. Seven medical teams were also being sent to the affected areas.