Alipurduar district police have set up special Duare Police (police at doorstep) camps to help residents who lost vital identity documents in last Sunday’s floods in filing general diaries.

Over 500 people received assistance from the camps on Friday. Three more camps were held on Saturday in Salkumarhat-I and II gram panchayats and Bittibari in Kumargramduar. The camps are being viewed as a major relief measure for villagers unable to travel long distances to police stations to lodge general diary (GD) entries for lost documents.

Police sources said the initiative followed chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s instruction during her October 6 visit to flood-hit Nagrakata, where she urged officials to stand “by the side of the affected people”.

Following the floods, residents of Salkumarhat, Bittibari, and Subhashini Tea Estate reported losing documents such as Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN, ration and debit cards, and school and college certificates. Many feared bureaucratic hurdles ahead of any potential special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in poll-bound Bengal, worried they might be unable to prove their identities.

“After the flood, people had lost not only their huts but also essential documents. For them to travel 20 to 30 kilometres to the police station just to file a GD was almost impossible,” said a police officer. “So, we decided to reach the villagers ourselves.”

Police personnel identified open spots in the affected localities, set up makeshift desks with chairs and began recording GDs on the spot. Villagers queued up eagerly to register their losses.

Community kitchens have also been opened in Salkumarhat-I and II and Subhashini Tea Garden, serving hot meals to over 1,500 people so far.

Local residents have expressed deep appreciation for the initiative.

“Certificates of our children and our voter and Aadhaar cards were all washed away. We were terrified because SIR could be held anytime and we had no papers to show. But the police came door to door and collected the GD from us. It’s a huge relief,” said Sharmila Barman of Natunpara in Salkumarhat.

Villager Kashem Ali said: “I lost my debit card and other documents the night we fled our flooded home. The police visiting our village to file our GDs is highly appreciated beyond words.”

SP Y. Raghuvamshi said the initiative was a part of the force’s duty. “Our duty is to stand beside people in distress at any time. We are just fulfilling our responsibility, nothing more,” he said.