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Mamata Banerjee slams Burdwan cops for inability to check sand trafficking

Ahead of the Panchayat election, chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday stressed the need for enhancing the pending works…

Mamata Banerjee slams Burdwan cops for inability to check sand trafficking

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Said “people of Bengal should’t worry as we are prepared to project artisans, farmers and trade” (Photo: IANS/File)

Ahead of the Panchayat election, chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday stressed the need for enhancing the pending works linked to rail and road connectivity in the districts.

She slammed certain quarters, which according to her, “create unnecessary trouble before the development works”. The chief minister was holding her administrative meeting at Shibdaha village near here.

She said to the police and the block officials: “In every good work some political persons try to destabilise the projects, prepare a list of such persons creating nuisance and keep watch on them.”

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Referring to the pending Tarkeswar-Bishnupur Railway link, she said: “If people don’t want development, let them suffer. Some people have moved to the Calcutta High Court seeking for a stay order. It’s just a handful of people backed by the CPI-M who are creating hindrance. The CPI-M never has done good for people in Bengal.”

The chief minister further stressed the need to expedite the works for the proposed North-South freight corridor. The Burdwan (East) administration, held a meeting with the National Highway Authority of India two weeks ago for the four-lane highway that will cut freight movement between Haldia port and Siliguri by 90 kilometre.

The officials told Miss Banerjee that bridges wo r th Rs 565 crore, roads worth Rs 790 crore and office buildings worth Rs 229 crore under the PWD were under execution in Burdwan (East) alone.

Miss Banerjee said that besides works like railway overbridges in Bhedia and Talit near Burdwan town, another bridge linking Ausgram and Bolpur would start soon.

Besides the road connectivity, the chief minister asked the district police authority to install a full-fledged police station for the Panagarh Industrial Park.

When the police pleaded that it was under the Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate, the chief minister said: “It’s no matter that the district has got divided now. By any means, the policing needs to be strengthened there.”

Also, responding to an appeal by Dr Utpal Dan, medical superintendent of Burdwan Medical College & Hospital, she asked the police to intensify security arrangement at the hospital as the health installation was facing uproar from to time.

The SP, Mr Kunal Agarwal, tried to convince her that a police camp comprising 60 personnel was guarding the hospital round the clock, but she said: “Still it’s not enough and you have to check it further.”

On health issues, she asked the panchayat officials to take up the matter of mass awareness on vector-borne diseases. The DM, Burdwan (East), Mr , said: “The district already has prepared a district level committee and has conducted house to house survey works and intensive awareness has also been pressed.”

The chief minister said: “You should use local artistes in the remote villages during the haat(weekly village market) hours to make the people aware.” Meanwhile, Miss Banerjee lambasted the police for their inability to check the rampant sand trafficking in several parts of the district.

The chief minister, while taking into account the district’s law and order scenario, expressed her concern about growing sand trafficking from the key rivers like the Damodar and the Ajoy.

She said: “I know that though the miscreants are booked by police from time to time, the Mafia operate sitting inside the jails,” adding: “I wonder, how they are allowed to procure such gadgets inside jails.”

The Burdwan (East) administration, in recent times, seized a number of cell phones from the possession of the jail inmates inside the Burdwan central Correctional Home and a probe had unearthed nexus between the jail wardens and the jail birds.

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