Team of 4 ministers to camp in flood-ravaged areas in the Hills

Amitava Banerjee, MP, 12 Oct 2023, Darjeeling: A Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday decided to send a team of four ministers to the Kalimpong and Darjeeling Hills to assess and review relief and rehabilitation work. The team will arrive on October 17 and will camp for 4 days. 

"The Chief Minister expressed concern over the Teesta disaster that ravaged areas under the Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts. Already a team of ministers, including Power minister Aroop Biswas, myself had visited the affected areas. 

 team comprising four ministers will arrive at the affected area on October 17 and will camp for 4 days and meet the affected people,” stated North Bengal Development department minister Udayan Guha. 

The four ministers to visit the Hills include Irrigation and Waterways and North Bengal Development State minister Sabina Yeasmin, Consumer Affairs minister Srikanta Mahata, Minority Affairs minister Mohammad Ghulam Rabbani and School Education State minister Satyajit Barman. 

The District Disaster Management Authority, Kalimpong, will convene a meeting on Friday at 11.30 pm to take stock of the situation. The meeting aims to streamline and augment the relief and rehabilitation work. 

Along with the District Administration officials, police, the GTA top brass have also been invited to attend. Representatives of the National Highway 10, PWD and the NHPC will also be present. Anit Thapa, chief executive member GTA, Ruden Sada Lepcha, MLA, Kalimpong along with Gram Panchayat Pradhans and Panchayat Samity Sabhadipatis are scheduled to attend. 

“As of now 1170 people from 230 families are residing in relief shelters in the Kalimpong district. Another 200 to 300 people made their arrangements,” stated T Balasubramanian, District Magistrate, Kalimpong. “Sufficient relief materials have come in. Now we have to concentrate on rehabilitation measures, especially building houses. Hundreds of houses have been completely destroyed. 

Many have developed cracks and are unsafe. Everyday the numbers grow,” stated Anit Thapa, Chief Executive, GTA. On the Bengal side the worst affected are Rongpu, Melli and Teesta Bazar. 

“We visited a relief shelter at the Teesta High School where many affected families are lodged. They told us that they have no problems now but will need utensils and bed linen once they return home. We distributed stationary and school bags to 60 children. However in the future we will distribute pillows, bed sheets, blankets, utensils and buckets,” stated Swami Purneshwarananda of the Ramakrishna Mission Sister Nivedita Education and Cultural Centre, Roy Villa, Darjeeling. 

Meanwhile, the Air Force helicopters successfully evacuated the third group of people from Lachung in North Sikkim. A total of 46 individuals (39 tourists and 7 locals) arrived at Greenfield Airport in Pakyong. 

Simultaneously, in the fourth batch, 51 tourists were transported from Lachen. During the day, Air Force helicopters completed six sorties, successfully evacuating a total of 287 persons, including 144 (6 locals) from Lachen and 143 (17 locals) from Lachung. 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/team-of-4-ministers-to-camp-in-flood-ravaged-areas-in-the-hills-536408