Bhattacharjee arrived at the Basanti BDO’s office around noon and met district officials there. Later, he took a motor boat and toured various areas of Gosaba.

His last stop was at Adarsha Bidyamandir, the make-shift shelter for 300 villagers. The CM enquired if they have food and water. “How are your children? Are they suffering from diarrhoea? Are you getting drinking water?” he asked.

Ramchandra Deb Dului, a villager said, “We get chire once a day. Nothing else. Drinking water is scarce. No one is taking care of us. Cattle are lying dead in the villages. Our children are falling sick.”

The CM also held an ad hoc meeting with the DM, BDO Amiyabhushan Chakraborty, BARDO Abhijit Roychoudhury and around 100 villagers. He enquired about the number of relief camps that have been set up, the number of affected families and other details. “What will you require for the next seven days? Tell me now. I will provide it immediately. There is no shortage of relief material,” he said.

When the BDO allegedly pointed out that the block was partially affected, angry villagers began shouting and wanted to attack the BDO. Reacting to the statistics of relief work provided by the BARDO on the disposal of dead livestock, people resorted to angry protests again saying more cattle were lying dead and no work had been done.

Sensing public outrage, security officers escorted the CM out. Ganguly was roundly abused and some people tried to chase him but he was rescued by security. As the CM was approaching the motor boat, angry villagers got hold of Chakraborty, who was at the rear of the group following the CM, and began thrashing him. The BDO, who suffered injuries, was rescued by the police.

... contd.