‘Special ‘Duarey Sarkar’ camps in Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri & Alipurduar’
Darjeeling: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced special Duarey Sarkar camps for districts that had borne the brunt of the Teesta flash flood.
“Announce hereby that special Duarey Sarkar camps will be organised at Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Kalimpong districts for the families affected by recent Teesta floods in Sikkim which impacted large tracts in our hills and Dooars areas too. The camps will be particularly designed to help the affected families get their lost/ damaged ration and social security cards etc afresh. DMs are announcing the camp dates locally,” stated CM Banerjee on her social media handle X.
Incidentally, on October 4, a glacial lake outburst had resulted in the breaching of a dam of the Sikkim Urja hydel project in Chungthang in North Sikkim causing widespread damage in Sikkim. The effects of this were felt in the contiguous area of Kalimpong district and the downstream areas of Dooars with the rise in the water level in the river triggering a flood.
In the special Duarey Sarkar camps, new applications will be accepted for all 35 services and schemes provided by the Bengal government, including Khadya Sathi, Krishak Bandhu, Bina Mulya Samajik Suraksha, EPIC card, Disability card, KCC (ARD,) KCC (Agriculture,) Matsyajeebi Credit Card, Student Credit Card, Caste certificates, Bhabisyat Credit Card and registration of fishermen.
The Kalimpong I block and Lava block were the worst affected in Kalimpong district. Initially, 1170 persons belonging to 230 families were housed in relief shelters and around 200 to 300 took shelter in houses of friends and families.
“At present, around 402 persons are lodged in the camps. Many have been shifted to rented accommodations, while some are putting up with their relatives,” stated T Balasubramanian, District Magistrate, Kalimpong.
Applications will be received on November 6, 7 and 8 in the special Duarey Sarkar camps for Teesta and Samthar Gram Panchayats (GP) of Kalimpong I and Sansay GP of Lava. Service delivery camps will be held on November 17, 18 and 21 for the same.
“In Alipurduar, 21 special Duarey Sarkar camps have been planned under Kalchini, Madarihat-Birpara, Kumargram and Alipurduar-I blocks covering flood-affected GPs and population with special focus on tea gardens and other remote areas that have been affected,” stated R Vimala, DM, Alipurduar.
In Jalpaiguri district, special camps for receiving applications will be held on November 7 and 8, dates for service delivery are proposed for November 17 and 18.
About 15 camps have been planned covering flood-affected Gram Panchayats under Jalpaiguri Sadar, Mal, Kranti and Maynaguri blocks.
As many as 566027 camps have been held in seven editions of DS with total footfall being 105784361. The total service delivery has been to 515526 citizens. About 99427 camps were held in the 7th edition that was held throughout September 2023.
