Political storm picks up over Jalpaiguri tornado in West Bengal

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that Mamata Banerjee’s visit to the hospital was a photo opportunity. “We do not have chartered flights like the Chief Minister. We have to wait for commercial flights. This is because the Trinamool Congress has received a lot of money through the electoral bonds,” the BJP leader said.

A political storm has erupted over the tornado at Jalpaiguri and other districts of north Bengal with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rushing to the areas affected by the natural disaster.

The death toll in the tornado that had struck parts of north Bengal on March 31 increased to five on April 1. The Chief Minister visited a hospital in Jalpaiguri and met the injured in the early hours of Monday. Later in the day she visited the neighbouring Alipurduar district.

Speaking to journalists Ms. Banerjee said that many people have lost everything and the administration will stand by them in distress. “People have lost everything and are staying at the relief camp in Tapsikhata school. Even though a model code of conduct is in place, a situation of disaster is an emergency and [constitutes an] exceptional case. The administration can take measures for assistance in case of any disaster,” the Chief Minister said.

The scientists at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata described the weather phenomenon in north Bengal as a tornado.

“We are able to give predictions for cyclones because we can see a signature in our numerical weather system. Since tornadoes occur in a very small area, not only us but scientists in the USA cannot predict them,” Somenath Dutta the head of RMC in Kolkata said.

Hundreds of people had suffered injuries in the tornado which lasted for about four minutes. Jalpaiguri town, parts of Maynaguri, and parts of Alipurduar has been affected by the natural phenomenon which raged several houses to the ground, destroyed crops, and resulted in death of large number of cattle.

Along with the Chief Minister, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee all reached the areas affected by the tornado.