Mamata wants Centre's nod for poppy cultivation

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has stressed upon the need to get the required permission from the Centre to cultivate poppy in Bengal while addressing the Eastern Zonal Council (EZC) meeting at Bhubaneswar on Friday.

Besides bringing up this issue, the Chief Minister has also raised the clearances required from the Railway Safety Review Committee to complete the construction of Majerhat Bridge. She also harped on the need to carry out dredging by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to check floods in certain parts of Bengal.

Banerjee raised the issues in the presence of Union Home minister Amit Shah in the EZC meeting.

The Chief Minister emphasised that a large part of Bengal consumes poppy seeds (posto) in their diet. Hence, essential clearances should be given so that farmers can undertake cultivation of the same. Since it is not permissible to cultivate poppy in the state, it needs to be imported. If the clearance is provided, then it will be helpful for farmers as well.

As Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have the requisite permission to cultivate poppy, there was discussion that Bengal too can get the approval for cultivating the crop.

In regard to Majerhat Bridge, the Chief Minister discussed the need for clearance by the Railway Safety Review Committee. Unless it is given, a portion of the under-construction bridge cannot be completed which is putting commuters in great inconvenience. She urged for necessary steps that needed to be taken to give the clearance at the earliest.

The age-old Majerhat Bridge, that collapsed in September 2018, acted as a crucial connector for vehicles plying from a large portion of South Kolkata and South 24-Parganas to the central part of the city.

The state government has taken all necessary measures to complete construction of the new one at the earliest. Once the necessary clearance is given, the work can also be completed to ease out traffic in the area.

Banerjee also raised the issue of carrying out dredging by the DVC to check the flood situation in certain areas of Bengal. Desiltation is needed to ensure that people do not face trouble due to floods.

The state government has taken up several projects to check flood-like situations in parts of Bengal but the condition would not improve completely unless dredging to desilt the river bed is carried out. Some parts of Howrah and Hooghly face flood-like situation during the monsoon. The situation turns quite similar in certain areas in North Bengal. In a bid to overcome this, the Chief Minister has pressed upon the need to carry out dredging.