1993 Floods in Jalpaiguri G K Lieten Prabhat Datta Supporters of panchayati raj expect that the devolution of power will produce a flexible and committed respc to natural calamity. This presitimption is tested in the case of the 1993 floods in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. Field research among flood victims shows that the panchayats were indeed prompt and efficient in their response to the crisis and fair in their distribution of relief and compensation.