In Bengal, a political battle over cyclone relief erupts, again

With three coastal districts and more than 100 islands in the Sunderban delta, the state is prone to cyclones that originate over the Bay of Bengal. West Bengal has been hit by at least four such cyclones in the recent past – Aila (2009), Bulbul (2019), Amphan (2020) and Yaas (2021)

On May 28, two days after Cyclone Yaas inflicted heavy damage in the coastal districts and Sunderban delta of West Bengal, chief minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee, while taking stock of the situation in South 24 Parganas, warned district officials to ensure that there were no complaints in relief operations.

A damaged shoreline after Cyclone Yaas hit India's eastern coast in the Bay of Bengal, at a beach in Shankarpur, some 180 km from Kolkata on May 27. (File photo)

“Last time, we had given enough (relief). But because of one or two incidents, we had to face a lot of ignominy. It should not happen this time,” the CM said at a post-cyclone review meeting at Sagar. Banerjee appeared to referring to the allegations of massive corruption and nepotism that her party had to face in the aftermath of cyclone Amphan, which had ravaged the state in May 2020.

With three coastal districts and more than 100 islands in the Sunderban delta, the state is prone to cyclones that originate over the Bay of Bengal. West Bengal has been hit by at least four such cyclones in the recent past – Aila (2009), Bulbul (2019), Amphan (2020) and Yaas (2021).

Every time a cyclone devastates the coastal districts and the Sunderbans, thousands of crore are pumped in by both the Central and the state government. Allegations of corruption, mismanagement and nepotism surface soon after, as if they have become synonymous. And while the current focus is on the Central-state battle over the recall of the chief secretary, at the root of it lies a recurring tension between the ruling and the Opposition party over issues of allocation of relief, the state of embankments, and central funds.

Also Watch | Cyclone Yaas: How Odisha evacuated 700,000 people in less than 24 hours

“The more the devastation, the larger is the fund that is pumped in for relief and reconstruction and the more serious are the allegations of corruption. It happened when Aila had struck in May 2009 during Left Front regime. It happened even a decade later when Amphan hit in May 2020 during Trinamool Congress (TMC) regime. Nothing has changed,” said Subhash Acharya, former joint director of the Sunderban Development Board.

The allocation of relief

Soon after the relief operations started in the aftermath of cyclone Amphan in May 2020, complaints poured in that the compensation never reached the actual victims. Clashes broke out in cyclone-hit villages, as it surfaced that local TMC leaders were benefited the most. In some areas, women were at the forefront of the protests.

“I didn’t get a single penny as relief even though my hut was completely damaged. Neither did many others like me in the village. But there are some people who received money even though they didn’t suffer any loss. They were close to the ruling party,” said Madhusudan Mondol, a villager of Satjelia.

With less than a year left for the crucial assembly elections of 2021, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) grabbed the opportunity and turned it into a major poll issue. Words like “Chal chor” (paddy thief) and “Tirpal chor” (tarpaulin thief) were coined to attack the TMC on allegations of corruption during the relief operations.

The TMC dismissed the allegations. But it clearly has had an impact, for the party does not want to confront the same perception again.

“The CM has directed us to ensure there is no shortage of relief materials – water, food, medicines and tarpauline. There is no harm if someone gets two tarpauline instead of one. But there shouldn’t be any complaint this time,” said a district magistrate.

But the BJP is not convinced that there has been any change. “BJP workers and supporters are not being allowed to enter rescue shelters. They aren’t getting any relief, which are being provided by the state government. We are organising relief materials from the party for them. In some areas, our workers and leader are being attacked when they are going to provide relief,” said Dilip Ghosh, BJP’s state president.

Politics of embankment

Preliminary assessments carried out by district officials within 48 hours after cyclone Yaas revealed that embankments were damaged in at least 134 places. This irked the CM because officials pointed out many of the embankments which were breached this time were repaired barely a year ago after cyclone Amphan had hit the state.

“I can’t allow government money to go down the drain every year. Embankments made out of mud are being damaged every year and the money is going into some people’s pockets,” she said, while directing the finance department to check which embankments were repaired after Amphan and how many were damaged this time.

At least 160 km of river embankments and four kilometres of sea dykes were damaged by cyclone Amphan which had hit Bengal on May 20. After the cyclone, Banerjee had said that she would write a letter to the NITI Ayog to send an expert team and find some permanent solution. Nothing moved however.

Way back in May 2009, when cyclone Aila had hit the Sunderbans, out of the total girdle of 3,122 km, embankments maintained by the state irrigation department of around 778 km got washed away or severely damaged. The then Manmohan Singh government pumped in more than ₹5,000 crore for repairing the embankments based on a report prepared by an expert committee formed by the government. But only around 20% - 25% work could be done. A substantial portion of the money went back to the Centre as embankments were not repaired for various land related problems.

“A vicious cycle exists in the Sunderbans which involves local politicians, engineers and contractors. They thrive on the funds that come in for the regular repair of the embankments. This has been going on for decades, else why would the villagers of Sunderbans suffer from the same problem year after year?” said a former official of the state irrigation department.

Tussle over central funds

The third recurring layer of controversy — besides the allocation of relief material and the state of embankments — is the tussle between the state and the centre over funds after a cyclone hits.

This time, even before the cyclone could hit, Banerjee raised her pitch alleging that the Centre was depriving the state by allocating lesser funds to fight cyclone Yaas compared to what was being allocated for Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

“They (BJP-led centre) have announced an advance fund of ₹600 crore each to Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and a little more than ₹400 crore for West Bengal. I have questioned why Bengal was being deprived,” she said. After the cyclone, Banerjee handed over a report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming that ₹20,000 crore would need to be spent to repair the damage and carry out reconstruction.

“I have submitted the report. We requested him to do what he thinks would be suitable,” she said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, conducted aerial survey of cyclone Yaas impacted areas in West Bengal and Odisha and later announced an immediate financial assistance of ₹1,000 crore.

Can Yaas be different?

This time, however, the TMC, which returned to power for the third consecutive time, despite facing massive allegations of corruption, is treading with caution. This is more so, because the Calcutta high court has already ordered an audit into allegations of corruption in relief materials after cyclone Amphan based on a PIL.

Earlier this week, Banerjee pressed on finding some long term and permanent solution with concrete embankments and planting mangrove on the embankments.

“Without proper study, no one can say for sure which is a permanent solution. While in some areas concrete embankments may have worked, it may not stand the river’s force and storm surge in other areas where the soil characteristics and slope many be different. There, natural structures strengthened by local mangrove species or geo-textile may be suitable,” said Tuhin Ghosh, director of School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University.

After facing a severe backlash allegedly because of local panchayat leaders over corruption and nepotism in relief distribution, this time, the CM has announced that the relief work would be done directly by the government, instead of local panchayats, and benefits would be directly transferred to the bank accounts of affected persons after proper enquiry.

“We need to undertake a proper survey before starting the reconstruction and relief work. For this, we would start a project ‘Duaare Tran’ (relief at doorsteps). Camps would be held in villages between June 3 and June 18 where people can deposit drop their application detailing the damage to houses and croplands. Enquiry would be done between June 19 and June 30. The money will reach the affected persons directly between July 1 and July 8,” she added.

The BJP, which won 77 of the 292 seats in the recently polls, said it would prefer to wait and watch how relief reaches the actual victims in a corruption-free manner.

“The TMC, in a bid to make the three-tier panchayat system Opposition-free, has totally destroyed the system. BJP workers are not being allowed to enter relief camps. We apprehend whether they would be able to reach the camps of Duaare Tran when they are set up. These are all announcements made by the chief minister. Let us see how this works out,” said Samik Bhattacharya, BJP spokesperson in the state.