West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee confirmed that 27 people, including a Nepali and a Bhutanese citizen, have lost their lives in the recent floods and landslides that struck Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Mirik. During her visit to the Dudhia bridge collapse site in Mirik on Tuesday, Banerjee called the disaster “man-made”, alleging that water released from Bhutan’s dams worsened the situation. "I heard that from Bhutan, they opened the dams and released all the water. That's why North Bengal is facing this disaster. Death occurred due to flash floods, but they said death was caused by the bridge collapse," the Bengal CM said.
She added that the government had launched large-scale rescue and relief operations, with special attention to restoring roads and bridges. She also met 21 affected families and assured them that the state government would rebuild homes, restore lost documents, and provide crop insurance to farmers.
"Our administration alerted people before the incident. Many didn't want to leave their homes. Nagrakata is not a low-lying area, but flash floods devastated the area. Nine dead bodies have been recovered from Nagrakata. Relief work is going on. Many people are playing politics, that on the day of incident, the carnival of Durga Puja was going on in Kolkata. Suppose I had moved on that day, the administration would have been busy with VIP movement. At that time it was important to rescue the people, not concentrate on VIP movement," Banerjee said, as reported by ANI.
Ex-gratia, job for kin of victims announced
The Chief Minister announced Rs 5 lakh compensation and a Special Homeguard job for one family member of each victim.
Sharing a X post, CM Mamata Banerjee said, "While death cannot be compensated, we shall give Rs 5 lakh to the families of each deceased, and a Special Homeguard's job to a kin in each such family as a special gesture." Banerjee criticised the Central government, alleging that West Bengal had not received funds for five years under key schemes like MGNREGA and Awas Yojana, saying, “We are trying our best with limited resources.”
The CM urged people to stay calm, avoid rumours, and maintain unity during the crisis, stressing that the state government stands firmly with all those affected.
