Tag: south bengal

Flood situation: WB CM chairs meeting of disaster management group at Nabanna

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West Bengal Chief Minister held a meeting with the disaster management committee of the State to review the flood situation in the State. Several officials and ministers of various departments were present in the meeting.

The Chief Minister assigned specific ministers the charge over overseeing relief operations in specific districts. She said that Bengal received excess rainfall this year, over and above the normal. Ruing the fact that no one can control natural calamities, she said the government was taking all precautions in light of the fresh prediction of heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours.

“39 people have died so far in the flood situation due to various reasons like electrocution and snake bites. We have decided to give ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh to families of those have lost their lives due to floods,” she announced during a press briefing after the meeting.

“We will carry out a survey of the damages caused to crops and farmlands. We are requesting the Centre to repair National Highways. PWD Dept will take care of State Highways,” she added.

The government had launched an emergency helpline 1070 yesterday for flood relief operations.

WB Govt launches emergency helpline number 1070 for flood situation

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West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee today reached Kolkata at 4:30 PM IST. Without wasting any time, she conducted a meeting with the Home Secretary and other senior officials at the airport itself.

The Chief Minister said that 26000 people have been shifted to relief camps so far. “Our priority is to provide relief to stranded people and carry on with rescue operations,” she added.

The government has launched an emergency helpline number. People can call 1070 for any information related to the relief operations.

Highlights of WB CM’s press briefing at Dumdum airport:

  • I met senior officials at airport itself. I took stock of the flood situation in the State from Home Secretary
  • I cut short my London visit due of the flood situation and impending cyclone. Dr Mitra and other officials are in London for meetings
  • We have dispatched relief materials to the affected areas. We are taking all measures to stand by the side of people
  • No one can control nature. We feel saddened at the losses due to heavy rains. Our priority is to provide relief to stranded people and carry on with rescue operations
  • Many houses and farm lands have been affected due to heavy rains. We will do everything possible to help people
  • We are monitoring the situation. District administration has been alerted. People in coastal areas must be careful

 

Tweets of WB CM from Dumdum airport:

ADB loan push for state corridor

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The Mamata Banerjee government has got another big boost before the chief minister’s London visit on July.

The screening committee of the Department of Economic Affairs under the union Finance Ministry has cleared loan approval of receiving $500 million Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan to the West Bengal government for setting up the 231 km long North South corridor from East Midnapore to Murshidabad that will cross six districts and move parallel to NH-34.

This is the highest amount of ADB loan granted for any ADB-assisted single project in the country. The total cost of the project, to be executed by the West Bengal Highway Development Corporation Limited (WBHDCL) is estimated as Rs 4,696 crore.

The corridor would help to remove the critical bottlenecks in freight movement not only from the northern parts of the state and north eastern states of the country but also from the neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Nepal to Haldia and Paradeep.

About the corridor

According to the plan, the corridor will run across six districts on the western side of the Ganges parallel to NH-34 and would serve at least 40% of the total population of the state, connecting a 231 km stretch from Mechogram near Haldia in East Midnapore to Morgram near Jangipur in Murshidabad.

The corridor will connect the important national highways of NH-6, NH-2, NH-60 and NH-34. The corridor will also reduce travel distance of Morgramm – Haldia port for about 60 km and will reduce about three hours of travel time in comparison to NH-34.

Kharagpur and the south west part of the country will get shorter connectivity to north east in addition to the faster connectivity to Haldia from states like Bihar, Jharkhand and the north eastern states along with Nepal and Bhutan.

 

The story was originally published in The Times of India on 10 June, 2015