Mamata Banerjee on Monday publicly admonished urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim for his alleged failure to improve drainage systems.
The Bengal chief minister gave Hakim the tongue-lashing at an administrative review meeting for Howrah. She also rebuked minister Arup Roy, the Trinamul Congress’s Howrah unit chief, for the poor condition of a slum in Howrah.
Addressing Hakim, Mamata said at the meeting: “Why is the drainage system not alright? I had said it, make a drainage scheme. Despite that, proper steps were not taken. If drainage is not in shape, there will be water-logging when it rains.”
She wanted to know why municipal councillors were not paying attention to this key area in their wards.
“Bobby (Hakim), your department was specifically asked to draw up a plan. But work did not happen. Water-logging has become a permanent problem in Howrah. Once water accumulates, there is no way for it to get out. These problems will not be solved without proper drainage. Why am I having to look into these things?” the chief minister asked at the meeting, televised live.
A Trinamul source said the chief minister had not taken kindly to the extent of water-logging and allied problems, which affected Calcutta, Howrah and several other urban centres in the vicinity since torrential rain on Friday.
“She was shocked at how badly caught off-guard we appeared after barely 45 minutes of heavy rain on Friday afternoon. She has been talking about the kind of sufferings people in Calcutta, Howrah and other nearby urban areas had to undergo all weekend because not enough was done to improve drainage,” he said.
Before reaching the meeting venue, Mamata had made an unannounced visit to a Howrah slum — 2 No Round Tank Lane that comprises largely Hindi-speaking dwellers.
She started the meeting with demanding an explanation from minister Roy.
“I went and saw that 400-odd people are forced to use just two bathrooms. Why should this happen? We give funds regularly for development of slums. Despite that, why such mismanagement? It is not my job to pay these visits. It is yours. This is your area. You (Roy) have to work,” Mamata said.
“Now, do not go there and say why was Didi told, Didi has the right to know. She has the right to go anywhere, at any time,” she added.
The chief minister, who posted several pictures of her slum visit on Twitter, wrote about it as well.
“I interacted with them and came to know about their problems relating to sanitation, availability of drinking water, distribution of ration cards, improper drainage system and other issues,” she said, adding that strict directions had been given to officials to solve the problems.