Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday wondered why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was allegedly ignoring her communications about Bengal, a state grappling with flood and landslides.
“I sent letters to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention and central assistance to handle natural disasters like floods that have plagued vast areas of north and south Bengal. Instead of him, some other central minister replies to my letters. This is unacceptable,” said Mamata, while speaking at a news conference at Uttarkanya, the branch secretariat of the state located in southern Siliguri.
On Sunday afternoon, Mamata landed at the Bagdogra Airport. Later in the day, she met with officials of eight north Bengal districts and Murshidabad at Uttarkanya to take stock of the flood situation and the landslides that have occurred in the hills.
“Unlike other states, the central government doesn't pay the Bengal government a penny to handle the flood and erosion. It has stopped dredging the Ganga river bed at Farakka as a result of which the capacity of the barrage to hold water has been reduced. Whenever there is a rise in water levels (of the Ganga), the water is discharged. This in turn, floods and erodes vast areas of Malda and Murshidabad,” said Mamata.
Due to the torrential and unpredictable downpours this year, NH10, the principal highway that connects Sikkim and Kalimpong with Siliguri and the rest of the country, has closed down several times.
The disruptions occured either due to landslides or because a stretch of the road caved in as earth from under the road was swept away by the swollen Teesta river.
“The Indian army uses this highway.... It is a national highway and I have asked the chief secretary (Manoj Pant) to take up the issue with the army and the central government so that appropriate repairs of the NH10 can be done,” the chief minister said.
She said that till Mahalaya, October 2, two principal secretaries from various departments would be posted in all the districts of north Bengal.
“They will work in tandem with the district magistrates and the administration and take appropriate steps to reach out to people affected by the flood. We are providing all necessary relief materials and would urge people in districts like Malda and Murshidabad to stay some more days in flood shelters instead of returning to their homes that are close to the Ganga. People should stay safe,” said Mamata.
In the course of the news conference, she said that water has been released from Kosi, a river that enters from Nepal to the neighbouring state of Bihar and then merges with the Ganga.
“Because of the geographical location, Bengal gets flooded as water from other states flows in. Despite the Centre's non-cooperation, we are putting all efforts into helping people during the natural disaster,” she said.
Such assertions from the chief minister hint that she is trying to exert pressure on the BJP, especially because in north Bengal, there are six MPs from the saffron party, opined political observers.
So far, no announcement has been made by the Centre to stand by the state that is battling a grim flood situation in many south Bengal districts as well as in Malda and Jalpaiguri in the north, as well as landslides in the hills.
“By tossing tough questions at the Centre while underscoring non-allocation of funds to Bengal from Delhi, the chief minister, who is also the Trinamool supremo, has tried to drive home the point that the BJP legislators of the region are sitting silent and have not taken any effort to help people,” said an observer.