For the first time since the devastating floods struck Nagrakata, Jalpaiguri district, on October 5, Model Village resident Sita Oraon had a full meal on Monday at a community feast.
It was organised by the district administration to coincide with chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit.
“Pet bharke khalek bachhua (eat and fill your stomach fully, my child),” Sita was heard telling her son, as they ate steaming rice, meat, vegetable curries and chutney at the relief camp in Nagrakata, around 60km from Jalpaiguri town.
“We cannot remember the last time we had such a meal,” said Rustom Munda, resident of nearby Tondu, echoing the sentiment of many flood-affected families.
Around them, children like Suresh, Kamal and Tarak were seen eating heartily, their first proper lunch in over a week.
The administration on Monday arranged two community kitchens, serving meals to nearly 8,000 residents, which included 3,000 from Model Village and 5,000 from Bamandanga and Tondu tea gardens in the same block of Jalpaiguri district.
The event coincided with the chief minister’s inspection of Bamandanga-Tondu tea garden and Model Village, which are among the worst-hit areas in the Dooars.
Model Village was ravaged as the Diana, Kuchi Diana, and Gathia rivers burst their banks. Ten people lost their lives there, while hundreds were rendered homeless.
In Bamandanga and Tondu, displaced tea garden workers had to take shelter on the second floor of a tea factory. There was no electricity in parts of the area.
Even now, many residents stay in the factory at night to avoid wild elephant attacks, returning to their homes only during the day.
Bridges, culverts and roads have been washed away, cutting off normal access.
Residents now wade through shallow stretches of the river to commute.
Amid this devastation, Monday’s meal brought rare smiles.
“We haven’t been able to feed our children properly for days,” said Geeta Mahali, a flood victim of Bamandanga, as she and fellow villager Suresh Oraon helped children eat their lunch.
The chief minister interacted with villagers, including Sita Oraon, who narrated their experiences of the flood. “The condition of Model Village is still not suitable for living,” Sita told the chief minister.
“We also held a health camp at the site,” said district magistrate Shama Parveen.