West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (PTI)
KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday described the flood situation in the northern districts as "alarming" and claimed that the state has been deprived of central assistance to deal with the natural calamity.
Banerjee, who was on her way to north Bengal to inspect the flood situation there, told reporters that her government was dealing with the deluge on a war footing.
"North Bengal is reeling under flood. Districts like Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar have been affected. Due to heavy rain in catchment areas of Koshi river, places in Bihar and Malda and Dakshin Dinajpur districts of Bengal will be affected in the near future," she said on her way to Siliguri.
Accusing the central government of "not performing its role to help the state fight against the calamities, she said, "The Centre did not take up maintenance work of Farakka barrage and its water-bearing capacity has reduced to a great extent despite our repeated reminders to them."
She alleged that the BJP leaders used to visit West Bengal "only during polls but forget about the state when it matters most".
"Only Bengal is being deprived of flood grants", Banerjee claimed.
The state government, on its part, has been "dealing with the situation on a war footing and launched a public address system for evacuation of people living near rivers to safer places", she said.
Banerjee also said the chief secretary has been sent to north Bengal and an administrative meeting would be held by her at 5 pm at Uttarkanya in Siliguri.
To a question, the chief minister said the Darjeeling Hills are affected by massive landslides and the state administration with the help of the army is working to restore road connectivity.