Very much aware of the sensitivity of the situation arising out of the cyclone Aila’s large-scale devastation, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee lost no time to signal that her new responsibility as the country’s Railway Minister would not distract her from Bengal.

Within minutes of assuming the charge of her ministry, Banerjee left for the cyclone-affected areas of South 24 Parganas on a special train on Tuesday morning. On reaching Namkhana, she boarded a mechanised boat to reach the far-flung villages drowned in water.

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.

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