High tides keep Sunderbans islanders on toes

TMC boycotts all-party meeting called nearly a fortnight after the Aila disaster, dubs it eyewash

The local administration has removed thousands to relief centres as a precaution.
“The first high tide that struck the coastal areas of the island at around 11.30 am, was not accompanied by a cyclone as a result of which there was not much of a damage,” an official of the South 24 Parganas district administration told Deccan Herald here over telephone.

“We’re preparing now for the second surge which is expected to hit on Saturday night,” he said.

However, the coastal areas of the Sunderbans have been witnessing heavy rains as the meteorological office at Alipore issued a clarification saying that the depression has not intensified into a storm as was apprehended earlier and the rains would continue for another 36 hours in the coastal areas of the state.

The administration has kept a hovercraft and a large number of speed boats ready to meet any exigency after several river embankments were washed away in the wake of Cyclone Aila and the state government conceded that it could not repair more than 400 km of the embankment owing to lack of funds and personnel.

Central team

An eleven-member central team which arrived here on Saturday for an on-the-spot assessment of the damaged wreaked by Aila, is scheduled to visit the affected areas of the Sunderbans on Sunday and Monday.

Three team members have already left for Darjeeling to assess the landslide havoc in the hills that killed 28 people.

Meanwhile, in another development, the Trinamool Congress refused to attend the all-party meeting convened by the chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee on Sunday, claiming that the whose exercise “is an eye wash.”

“It’s surprising that an all party meet has been called nearly a fortnight after the Aila disaster. We have strong reasons to believe that the government is trying to cover up its failure in organising relief and rehabilitation of the affected,” TMC chief and Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee told newspersons here.

However, the state unit of the Congress which met here under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister and PCC president Pranab Mukherjee decided to attend the meet to voice the party’s grievance on the issue of relief measures. When asked about the Congress’ decision, Banerjee claimed that the Congress “is an independent party and it is entitled to take its own decision.” The Congress said it would send two representatives to the meeting.

The TMC has been miffed with the state government after the latter turned down its proposal for disbursing of the central assistance through panchayats instead of the state government.
DH News Service