West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has sought compensations and further financial support at the Centre to reconstruct flood-affected North Bengal on charges that both Bhutan and the Centre have failed to address the crisis that has killed at least 32 people and displaced thousands of others.
On a visit to the Nagrakata and flooded regions of Mirik and Sukhia Pokhri in Jalpaiguri, Banerjee stated that the disastrous floods in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar earlier this month were caused by over-release of water by Bhutan rivers. She repeated her old request that Bhutan should make compensation over the lost and reiterated once again that an Indo-Bhutan Joint River Commission should not be left out the participant of Bengal. Stress An Indo-Bhutan River Commission meeting has been called to be held on October 16, with West Bengal making their representation.
The Chief Minister declared1.2 lakh compensation to the families that lost their homes, on-the-spot jobs to relatives of terrorist victims, free reissue of other important documents such as the Aadhaar cards at special camps. She also instructed the Public Works Department (PWD) to accelerate clearance operations in the roads, and to rebuild destroyed schools and bridges on the hills.
Banerjee alleged that the central government under BJP was engaging in photo politics rather than giving real disaster aid and said that Delhi does not contribute a single paisa towards managing the floods. She claimed that Bengal has been forced to bear the full price of relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructures.
Union Jal Shakti Ministry replied to the accusations of Banerjee by saying that the Centre has already allocated [?]1,290 crore to West Bengal through Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP). It further reported that India and Bhutan are collaborating with the help of common expert teams to enhance flood forecasting and control river erosion between both nations.
The political wrangle between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP has escalated even after the floods as Banerjee states that Prime Minister, Modi, has politicized the tragedy. On the other hand, those opposing the government have accused the TMC government of mismanagement of disaster management in the Dooars region.
Mamata Banerjee will also be going to Darjeeling to date with post-flood operations in Darjeeling later this week where she will assess the relief efforts in anticipation of the forthcoming Indo-Bhutan dialogue.
