Central assistance for flood-hit Sikkim triggers political slugfest in Bengal
The death count due to flash floods until Saturday evening stood at 55. Of those, 29 bodies were fished out of the Teesta and its tributaries in Bengal’s Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts
Siliguri: The release of Central funds to the tune of Rs.44.8 crore as advance for flood-hit Sikkim has triggered a political slugfest in West Bengal.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday lashed out at the Centre for not considering the districts in West Bengal, including Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri, where the floods caused by the overflowing of Teesta River - which flows in Bengal from Sikkim - destroyed many villages.
“I am stunned by the central discrimination against our affected people of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and north Bengal, despite the gravity of disaster and number of deaths there too. We are not beggars, and we are certainly for Sikkim, but we want equality of treatment and non-discrimination in matters relating to central help in disaster management,” Banerjee wrote on her social media handle on Saturday.
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Banerjee’s reaction came a day after Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang said he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, President Droupadi Murmu and several Union ministers.
Shah approved the release of ₹44.8 crore as an advance amount from the Central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to Sikkim, the Centre said in a statement on Friday.
The Union home ministry also formed an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), which is in Sikkim to assess the damages. Ajay Kumar Mishra, Union minister of state for home affairs, went to Rangpo, one of the worst affected areas, on Saturday.
Anit Thapa, the chief executive of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in Darjeeling, said: “Hundreds of houses have been damaged here as well and our priority is to rebuild those.”
In her message on the social media platform ‘X’, Banerjee wrote: “From the night of the flash flood occurrence, I have been working 24X7 with my entire administration to save people from further distress, and have rushed in all help, including Rs. 25 crore assistance to GTA in the hills.”
Amit Malviya, head of the national information technology cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party, immediately countered her on his X-handle.
“This is not the time to politicise the tragedy. But till yesterday, over 60 hours since the flash flood on Teesta caused widespread destruction, loss of infrastructure, properties and lives, not a single WB Govt minister, or even senior bureaucrat had bothered to visit Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills and Terai region,” Malviya wrote.
“It is one thing to care less, but completely unbecoming of the chief minister to show utter indifference towards the people of the region. Instead of working on ensuring basic facilities for the survivors, those running GTA seem to be only and only concerned about relief funds. This is their priority. Shameful to say the least,” Malviya added.
Banerjee did not comment on this issue on Sunday.
The death count in flash floods until Saturday evening stood at 55. Of those, 29 bodies were fished out of the Teesta and its tributaries in Bengal’s Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts.
However, it could not be ascertained whether any of these people were residents of Bengal.
The flood water destroyed the Bardang army camp in Sikkim and swept away crates of ammunition and mortars, prompting the authorities to sound a warning that citizens should not touch anything found along the banks of the Teesta.
Despite the warning, Sahinur Alam, a seven-year-old boy, died and five men were critically injured in an explosion at Jalpaiguri on Thursday when they tried to disassemble a mortar found on the river bank.