Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to visit north Bengal to assess the ongoing flood-like situation in several parts of the region due to incessant rainfall in the last few days. This would be Miss Banerjee’s first visit to the region after returning to power for the third consecutive term with a mammoth victory in the Assembly polls.
She was earlier scheduled to visit north Bengal on 6 September but it had to be called off as the Election Commission had announced bypolls in Shamserganj, Jangipur and Bhawanipore, a seat from where she had contested.
According to Miss Banerjee’s itinerary, she will reach Siliguri on 24 October and stay there till Monday. On 25 October she will hold a meeting in Kurseong. In the next two days, she would hold administrative review meetings with district officials through video conferences from Uttarkanya.
She would leave Bagdogra airport on 27 October and head towards Goa directly. Miss Banerjee is likely to hold some government and political programmes apart from conducting administrative meetings. Miss Banerjee would primarily review the damages that have been recorded in the districts of north Bengal due to the rainfall.
Along with this, she would also come up with a plan for the overall development of the region. Again, Miss Banerjee’s visit is also significant ahead of the bypolls in Dinhata on 30 October.
Normal life came to a near standstill as showers triggered landslides causing damages to roads and bridges, halting or constricting traffic in various places in North Bengal’s hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, while low-lying areas in the plains of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts were flooded.
Hundreds of tourists, who have thronged the hills during the Durga Puja season, have been facing difficulties in travelling to their next destination or reaching railway stations or the Bagdogra airport to return home, owing to the incessant rain and landslides.