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Kolkata, Oct 13 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the Bhutan government of releasing water, which led to recent severe floods in North Bengal, and demanded that the neighboring country compensate for the damage.
“For a long time we have been pushing for the formation of an India-Bhutan River Commission with representation from the state government. North Bengal faced such a disaster because of the water released from Bhutan. We want the Bhutan government to compensate for the loss,” the chief minister said at Nagarakata in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on Monday afternoon.
He claimed that due to continuous pressure from the West Bengal government, the Central government has decided to call a meeting on this issue on October 16 and it will send a representative from the state government there.
Hitting out at the Center for not paying dues for crisis management in case of natural disasters like floods, Mamata Banerjee said, “We have to bear the entire expense in such cases as nothing comes from New Delhi.”
The Chief Minister announced that the state government will provide Rs 1.20 lakh to each family whose houses were destroyed in floods and landslides earlier this month.
The Chief Minister said, “We will soon repair the damaged bridges. In case of damage to crops, compensation will be provided to the land owners concerned under the Agricultural Insurance Scheme. The affected people will not have to bear any kind of financial burden as the state government will do whatever is necessary.”
He also said that many people have lost important documents after the floods and landslides. He assured them that the State Government is taking full responsibility of providing them duplicates of such lost documents.
On the occasion, he handed over appointment letters for Home Guards in the State Police to one member from each of the 10 families in the area who had suffered loss of life and property due to floods and landslides. He said that other affected families will also get appointment letters at the appropriate time.
Additionally, each affected family will be provided a compensation of Rs 5,00,000 by the state government.
–IANS
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