The Hindu : National : Mamata to take charge in Kolkata

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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
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Mamata to take charge in Kolkata

Raktima Bose

KOLKATA: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Monday that she will formally take charge at the Eastern Railway headquarters here on Tuesday instead of in New Delhi.

Earlier in the day, Ms. Banerjee called off her trip to New Delhi as she preferred to remain in West Bengal and stand by the side of the people hit hard by the storm under the influence of cyclone “Aila.”

Ms. Banerjee said she spoke to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee four times and officials in the Defence and Home Ministries several times during the day to apprise them of the situation in the State.

“The Defence Minister [A.K. Antony] spoke to me and has assured me that defence personnel have been mobilised to the affected areas. The Home Ministry too have asked Border Security Force jawans to work in tandem with the State police personnel for rescuing people,” she said.

Ms. Banerjee added that she has also faxed details of the situation to the Prime Minister’s Office and that an emergency control room has been set up at her residence to monitor the situation.

With reports of breach of several embankments in the State’s South 24 Parganas district coming in due to the incessant rainfall and water current, Ms. Banerjee lashed out at the State government for the “absence of a proper disaster management system.”

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