Relief work underway on a war footing: Min

kolkata: State Irrigation and Waterways minister Soumen Mahapatra on Friday held a review meeting at the office of the sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Basirhat to take a stock of relief works carried out in the Cyclone Yaas-affected areas of North 24-Parganas.

Mahapatra said: "We have supervised the improvement of the relief works in Hingalgunj and other affected areas. We have also sought suggestions from the senior officials of our department on the construction of embankments and took stock of the situation. Relief works are being carried out on a war footing. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already emphasized on the permanent embankments and a task force has been constituted."

The minister visited the affected areas where river embankments were damaged due to the cyclone. Around 40-45 km river embankments have been damaged. There are a total 276 km embankments in Hingalgunj and Sandeshkhali out of which around 153 km stretches are made of concrete. There are no permanent embankments in the 130 km stretch. The district administration has introduced a mobile oxygen facility which would visit from one place to another in villages of Hingalgunj. This mobile oxygen facility would reach at the doorstep of the Covid patients. Around 4 oxygen cylinders have been installed in the mobile van.