By IANS,
Darjeeling : Giving in to the demand of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday said she will request the central government for an additional Rs.500 crore grant for quake-stricken Darjeeling.
“Darjeeling has been worse affected than even Sikkim. In addition to the Rs.500 crore relief already requisitioned under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), I will make a further request for Rs.500 crore,” said Banerjee at a programme at this tourist hill resort in the state’s northern part.
Banerjee’s comments came a day after a delegation of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, the dominant party in the Darjeeling hills, gave her a memorandum asking for a Rs.1,000 crore central grant for restoration work and resettlement of the quake affected.
Banerjee, now on a two-day visit to Darjeeling, said the disaster management team will continue rehabilitating the quake-affected people in the area.
“The situation here is worrisome. The roads are in a poor state and many people are still living in relief camps. The disaster management teams are working on a war footing to rehabilitate them, I have asked them to speed up their efforts,” she said.
Along with other developmental packages, Banerjee announced several quake relief projects, including Rs.20 crore for construction of houses and Rs.1 crore for reconstruction of schools destroyed in the quake.
“The NDRF fund would be reaching here any time as it has been sanctioned. In the interim, I am giving you Rs.20 crore for building and repairing houses.”
Banerjee added that she would ask the central government to provide the people of Darjeeling additional funds for rebuilding their houses as constructing houses in hilly areas was three times more expensive than in the plains.
At least 68 people were killed and over 300 injured in the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked large parts of eastern and northern India Sep 18. The high-intensity quake, which was followed by two aftershocks, had its epicentre on the Sikkim-Nepal border.