Aila: Mamata blames Buddha government
for being irresponsible

Our Correspondent
Kolkata

Union Railways minister and Trinamool Congress Chief, Mamata Banerjee has lambasted the West Bengal government for “failing to come to the rescue of the people severely affected in the aftermath of the Cycone Aila that swept across the state on Monday.” Speaking to the media in Kolkata, Banerjee said that the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Government didn’t have a proper disaster management system to act under such serious situations. “This government is of no use and its machinery has completely failed,” she elaborated. The Cyclone Aila has already taken the lives of close to around 100 people in the state in districts like East Midnapore, Bankura, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Birbhum, Hooghly, Nadia and Murshidabad, as per reports. Add to it the landslides in Darjeeling because of which 27 people have died so far and several injured.

Banerjee who herself visited some of the flooded areas by a launch informed that several areas in East Midnapore, Howarh and Hooghly were still not out of danger. “Hundreds and hundreds of people are left stranded and there is a need to immediately provide them with food and other basic things needed at this juncture. We need more air dropping of basic amenities” added Banerjee. The landslide in Darjeeling has also endangered the lives of so many people with some 2,500 people stuck, she said. An officer of the Jorbungalow police station informed IANS, “We have recovered three bodies from the debris at Rangiabong under Jorbungalow police station area this (Thursday) morning. One of the bodies has been identified as Pramila Rai, 68.” State Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen is in Darjeeling to hold meetings with the administration. Nearly 100 landslides took place in Darjeeling.

Back in Kolkata, power problem has made the lives of the residents of Kolkata and adjoining areas hell and she has urged the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation to make prohibitions for more engineers and set up emergency control rooms to handle the situation. Banerjee also asked Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Partha Chattopadhyay to meet the CESC management to ensure that immediate steps were taken. Reacting to the Chief Minister’s claim that blockade of roads in Kolkata should be stopped to normalize life, Banerjee said that her party had nothing to do with it. “It’s the frustrated locals deprived of electricity and water who have come on the roads. On the contrary, our boys have been involved in helping the people to clear the roads blocked by the falling of tress. I myself visited several affected areas in the city to take stock of the situation. What is the state government doing?” Chief Minister Bhattacharjee has himself admitted that there is a shortage of electricity and drinking water. “In many areas there is no water. Electricity supply is disrupted in the northern and southern suburbs. We are trying our best. I asked (power utility) CESC to increase their manpower including engineers. They have done that partially. But more needs to be done,” he said.

Banerjee is supposed to speak to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today in Delhi after the swearing-in ceremony to urge him to take matters in hand. She is expected to return to the state along with her team of ministers to be sworn in on Thursday. The Trinamool chief also blamed the State Government for complete non-cooperation in this precarious juncture. “It was under our insistence that troops were sent to some of the areas which were under water,” said Banerjee, who added that the “Union Government has its own disaster control teams, but it was left to us to request it to come to innocent people’s rescue.”

Banerjee also said that she would ask for a special package and a master plan from the Central government to bail the people out of this situation. “The Panchayats should work directly with the villagers,” she said. Banerjee also added that it is time that the state and union governments gave assistance to the villagers whose means of income have been washed away by the flood.

Meanwhile agencies report that IAF helicopters have already dropped relief materials in Hingalganj, Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district and in Basanti, Gosaba of South 24 Parganas district.