Mamata Banerjee on Monday instructed different departments to take up and complete pending projects at the earliest, which was seen as a message that the government didn’t want development to suffer because of the month-long state-wide protests following the junior doctor’s rape and murder.

During an administrative review meeting at Nabanna on Monday where ministers and secretaries of all departments were present, the chief minister issued several instructions to take up the repair of roads and completion of water supply projects among others at the earliest.

She asked the officials to prevent the spread of diseases like dengue and malaria ahead of the festive season, besides asking them to be alert as avian flu hit neighbouring Odisha.

“The RG Kar incident has virtually slammed the brakes on government work for around a month and she was receiving complaints.... The chief minister made it clear that the government didn’t want to dither on delivery of governance,” said a senior bureaucrat.

Among the instructions given by Mamata, one to repair roads was very important.

“Work should be carried out on an urgent basis in the areas where roads were damaged badly. The tender process should be transparent and work should be carried out on time,” said the chief minister.

Mamata asked the public works and public health engineering (PHE) departments to repair the roads which were dug up to lay water or sewerage lines.

“The chief minister rightly pointed out the problem. Complaints were coming up that the roads which were dug up to lay utility services were not being repaired by the departments concerned. As a result, common people were suffering in many areas ahead of the festive season,” said a bureaucrat.

The chief minister also asked the (PHE) department to ensure that water was supplied in the areas where pipelines were laid under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

“The chief minister received complaints that pipelines had reached some households but water could not be supplied yet. As she felt it could make people feel betrayed, she asked the PHE to ensure that water was supplied as soon as pipelines were laid,” said an official.

Mamata asked the health department to appoint a nodal officer to monitor the dengue and malaria cases across the state.

“This is also very important. In the past few years, diseases like dengue and malaria have created havoc in a large part of the state during the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. The chief minister wants to avert a similar situation this year as people were already raising questions over the activities of the health department following the RG Kar incident,” said the official.

Mamata warned the officials about the spread of the avian flu virus in Odisha where thousands of poultry birds were culled.

“Bengal is safe so far. But everybody should be careful about government instructions until the situation becomes normal. Borders should be kept under strict vigil and the chief secretary should hold a meeting with the railways soon,” Mamata said at the review meeting.