Bengal readies hospital for Mamata

Trinamool Congress chief's hunger strike against the Tata car project in Singur enters the eighth day.

The West Bengal government on Monday readied hospital rooms and an emergency team as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's hunger strike against the Tata car project in Singur entered its eighth day.

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Superintendent of the SSKM Hospital Alok Ghosh said two rooms (20 and 21) at the Woodburn ward of the hospital had been arranged and an ambulance kept ready in view of Banerjee's deteriorating health.

These measures have been taken on the instructions of state Health Minister Suryakanta Mishra.

U.N. Sarkar, head of the cardiothoracic department, visited Mamata Banerjee late Sunday but party members did not allow him to meet or examine her.

The emergency medical team would comprise doctors of cardiothoracic, cardiology and medicine departments, an anesthetist and an ECG technician.

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a doctor and a close associate of the Trinamool Congress, said worriedly: "This cannot go on for long. She is barely able to talk and is also losing weight. We have to intervene forcibly if she doesn't listen to us."

Banerjee has been on a fast since Dec 4 to protest the acquistion of farm land in Singur in Hooghly district for the Tata car unit.