‘Submit report on compensation paid to N Bengal tornado victims’

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has directed the state to file a report on compensation paid to victims of North Bengal tornado after a petitioner moved court alleging that except for giving Rs 60,000 to some persons, the state government did nothing to provide relief to the victims.

The Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya was hearing a petition that claimed several families and houses were damaged due to the storm.

It was alleged that the state government only paid Rs 60,000 to some of the victims and nothing else was done.

The Election Commission of India (EC) too was made a party to the case but the counsel representing EC stated that they have no role in this.

The counsel for the petitioners agreed to this and said that the election body was impleaded in the petition since the storm hit the state at a time when Model Code of Conduct was in effect due to the Lok Sabha polls and due to a flood situation, several persons lost their voter ID cards.

The EC counsel submitted that the affected persons can apply for voter ID according to the procedure laid down.

The court decided that EC is no longer a necessary party in the writ petition while directed the district magistrate, who is the chairperson of district disaster management, Jalpaiguri, to file a report in the form of an affidavit on averments set out in the writ petition.

Following the storm, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had rushed to the affected Jalpaiguri district by a special flight and surveyed the affected areas.

She had said even though MCC is in place, a situation of disaster is an emergency constitutes an exceptional case. She urged the state administration to conduct a thorough survey to assess the extent of the damage and provide necessary assistance to the victims.

Trinamool Congress had alleged that the EC had only allowed the release of ex-gratia, ranging between Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000, which was far less than the assistance required for the 1,600 plus shelterless families to reconstruct their houses.