Life between Collapses and Risks in Mamata?s Jungle Raj

The godown was stacked with chemicals, the sources said, adding that the cause of the fire was being ascertained.

Some significant disasters in the past four weeks have attested the total failure of Mamata Government and exposed her tall promises of “Porivortan”. Mamata administration has failed in preventing the horrific heartbreaks that led to the pain of ordinary people.

It began with the Majerhat bridge collapse on September 4. The incident caused the life of 3, and more than 30 others got injured. There were several red flags given to this bridge. The first of the red flag was raised in early 2015 when a PWD audit of the Majerhat Bridge had reported the structure unsafe. Since then several warnings were given, but the State Government neglected it.

Two weeks before Majerhat Bridge collapse, state PWD engineers had given a ‘Fit certificate’ to this bridge after inspection. They also said that the bridge was in good condition. The Forensic team constituted by the State Government after Majerhat Bridge collapse had also exposed the complete negligence of state PWD department in their final report.

In 2016, when Kolkata’s Vivekananda Bridge collapsed that killed more than 27 people, IIT Kharagpur experts recommended pulling down of flyover but their suggestions are still on paper. The Mamata-led government had not shown any interest in implementing it. The incidents expose Mamata administration’s nature of negligence.

Just three days after the Majerhat Bridge collapse, a bridge in Phansidewa near Siliguri collapsed on September 7. The mishaps don’t stop here, on September 24, an under-construction bridge collapsed in Kakdip South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. It was the third incident of a bridge collapse in last one month.

The incidents reflected the falling state of infrastructure in West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee Government. During the election rallies, she promised that she would change the face of Kolkata and turn into London. Forget about London; she is unable to prevent the continuous bridge collapse in West Bengal.

Then came the Bagree Market fire. Bagree Market is Kolkata’s biggest market. On September 15 midnight, a fire broke out in the market. It took four days for firefighter team to control this. It was the second most extended fire after Nandram Market inferno that has blazed for 100 hours in 2008. The incidents raised a grave question on State Government facilities for such a big market.

According to a report, thirty-two buildings in the city including Bagree Market were found to be lacking in the adequate fire-fighting mechanism. Despite this, provisional no-objection certificates (NOC) were given to these buildings by Kolkata Nagar Nigam.

Later death of two Dalit students in police firing in Islampur’s Daribhit School gave a wave of shock to the people of Bengal. On September 20, an unfortunate and horrific incident took place in Islampur, where two innocent students were shot dead. The victim’s family is still waiting for justice from Mamata Banerjee.

On the auspicious day of Gandhi Jayanti, i.e. October 2, a blast 35 feet away from South Dum Dum a Municipality and TMC leader’s office on claimed the life of an eight-year-old boy and injured his mother along with nine others.

On October 3, Fire broke out in Kolkata Medical College. The fire at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital that forced the evacuation of around 250 patients, some on their own with tubes attached, showed how the government fails to practice the safety protocol it preaches. All the above incidents have unveiled failure of Mamata’s Government to the core.