No mercy for sand, coal mafia: CM

Kalna (East Burdwan): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee instructed police officers to take stern action against sand and coal mafias, smugglers and those running illicit liquor dens. She was addressing a gathering here on Friday afternoon.

"One percent officers are not doing their duties properly. I ask them to change their habit and instruct them to take stern action against the coal and sand mafias and those running illicit liquor dens. No mercy for these criminals," she said. Referring to the spurious liquor tragedy, she said that she had decided to give compensation to the families of the ill-fated persons as they have been badly hit by the death of their near and dear ones.

Calling East Burdwan the "green district", she expressed her happiness and congratulated the district administration for being the highest contributor of person days in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the country.

"The farmers here toil hard and feed the entire Bengal. We are proud of you. I want more rice mills and kishan mandis to come up in the district", she said. She said the income of the farmers has gone up two times since the Trinamool Congress government took over seven years ago.

The Chief Minister maintained that a road connecting Mechogram in East Midnapore with North Bengal will come up at an estimated cost of Rs 3,200 crore. The construction of the freight corridor will begin once the acquisition of land is completed. Both the roads will benefit East Burdwan district immensely. The work at Deocha-Pachami, the second largest coal block in Birbhum will start and this will provide jobs to 1 lakh people both directly and indirectly.

The scheme taken up by the state government to control flood in lower Damodar basin will stop flood in parts of Burdwan, Hooghly and Howrah, she said.

Coming down heavily on CPI(M), Banerjee said because of their financial mismanagement, her government is paying Rs 48,000 crore as loan burden. "During their 34 years of rule, factories had been closed, educational institutions became centres of politics and the condition of the hospitals was deplorable. After ruining the industrial scenario in Bengal, they are talking about industries now. They have spoilt the greenery in Singur. We have returned the land taken forcibly by the CPI(M) government. They have no work and are only there to create trouble.

Banerjee's remarks came a day after Suryakanta Mishra, CPI(M) state secretary, said in Kolkata on Thursday that they want industry in Bengal.

It may be mentioned that East Burdwan was a den of CPI(M), before Mamata Banerjee came to power in 2011. The Burdwan lobby, combining East and West Burdwan districts, was very strong.

Despite the loan burden, the state government has launched schemes for people coming from all strata of society. Over Rs 6,000 crore has been spent for Kanyashree and another Rs 2,000 crore to implement Sabuj Sathi. "We have covered all cross sections of people and we want them to live happily and peacefully," she said.