Guv visits storm-hit Raiganj, wants list of damaged homes

TALES OF WOE






TIMES NEWS NETWORK



Malda: For Sujala Roy, 20, of Hemtabad’s Sonabandh village, it was a pleasant surprise, even amid the gloom. On Monday, governor M K Narayanan himself spoke to her about her plight. Sujala became a widow after her husband, Dinesh, died in last week’s tornado, leaving her to stare at a very uncertain future. With the only earning member of the household gone, the hapless Sujala — who has two sons — has no means to repair her damaged house.
On Monday, the barriers of language melted in the face of a story of raw human emotion. Sujala’s tale of tears touched Narayanan’s heart even as he directed Hemtabad BDO Ananta Sarkar to take every possible measure to alleviate her condition, as also of the thousands of others for whom home and hearth lay in ruins. A visibly excited Sujala
could not control her emotions and broke down in tears.
The governor later directed officials of the North Dinajpur district administration to complete preparing a list of houses damaged in the storm in the next three days. The list would be sent to the state government soon in order to get compensation to repair the damaged houses.
It should be noted that the governor’s earlier scheduled visit, on April 17, could not take place owing to inclement weather, which prevented his flight from landing.
On Monday morning, however, the governor’s helicopter landed at Merual, the premises of the BSF headquarters in Raiganj, from where he was driven down to Kantar and Sonabadha villages in Hemtabad. He spent a considerable amount of time meeting storm-affected people...published in TOI on 27.04.10