Rail minister takes boat to nail Left in backwaters

In her entire trip,she blamed the Left Front government for failing to take adequate precautionary steps before the state was hit by the worst cyclonic storm in 20 years. Even in relief and rehabilitation,the state government was faltering,she alleged.

She said that “Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee & Co,” woke up to begin relief operations after she alerted the Centre about the devastations. She said even now the state government has failed to open relief camps for thousands of affected people.

She said she had been in constant touch with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony ever since Aila hit the state and her efforts eventually resulted in taking the Army’s help for rescue operations. “For 32 years,the state government hasn’t done anything to prevent flood or erosion. Which is why the Army had to be deployed to help in this situation and it happened only after we sought their help,” Banerjee told mediapersons.

She said arrangements have been made to distribute meals from various schools to the affected zones where thousands of people are stranded. “Already,30,000 quintals of grains from mid-day meal quotas has been acquired for distribution,and all the schools will be replenished,” she said.

The railway minister said that she said she would be getting detail reports of the damage in districts like Howrah,Hooghly,East Midnapore and West Midnapore. “After we collect these reports,I will send them to the PMO,” Banerejee said.

Over 7,000 acres of agricultural land is feared to have been inundated with saline water in South 24 Parnagas,Banerjee said.