Kolkata, Sep 7 - At least 150,000 people have been rendered homeless due to heavy rainfall in a large portion of southern West Bengal, including Sundarbans, in the past three days, an official said Monday.

Houses were swept away during the heavy downpour and embankments were breached at several places in the tidal mangrove forest that is the Sundarbans, forcing villagers to move.

'At least 1.5 lakh (150,000) people have been rendered homeless across the state. Many areas of Sundarbans, including Patharpratima, Kultali, Gosaba, Basanti and Sagar Island in Kolkata's neighbouring South 24 Parganas district have been affected by the rain,' said state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta.

'The rains have also caused damage and human displacement in areas like Hingalganj and Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district,' he added.