Siliguri (WB): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday visited people in north Bengal affected by yesterday’s massive earthquake and said that a rescue team is also being rushed to Nepal.
Three people died in the 7.9 magnitude quake, whose epicentre was in Nepal’s Pokhara, in Jalpaiguri, Naxalbari and Siliguri as 55 others were injured.
The injured were admitted to the government hospital in Siliguri. Banerjee, who arrived at Bagdogra airport this afternoon to assess first hand the damage caused by the powerful temblor in north Bengal, told reporters that the damage and devastation were “very sad and unfortunate”. Expressing her solidarity with the quake-hit in Nepal, Banerjee said, “The state government has so far received 31 requests from Bengalis stuck in the Himalayan kingdom and we are initiating efforts to bring them back.”
“The accompanying principal secretary to the state Disaster Management Department, Suresh Kumar, will brief you about the financial help of the state government for the quake victims, their next of kin and the quake-affected,” she told the media. Kumar said the state would give Rs 4 lakh each as compensation to the next of kin of the dead, Rs 2 lakh each to the seriously injured, Rs 3,200 each for repair of damaged mud houses, Rs 95,000 each for collapsed houses, Rs 1.10 lakh each for collapsed pucca houses and Rs 1,200 each for cremation and those having suffered fracture on hand/foot.(PTI)
