In her budget speech on Tuesday, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared financial assistance for Sikkim, along with Bihar, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, due to the damage caused by floods and landslides. The minister, however, missed out on extending similar assistance to West Bengal which also suffers from similar issues.
“Recently, Sikkim witnessed devastating flash floods and landslides that wreaked havoc across the state. Our government will provide assistance to the state,” the minister said.
On October 4, 2023, the northern districts of West Bengal—Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Kalimpong—bordering Sikkim, experienced significant impact from a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF).
The flood, triggered by the breach of South Lhonak Lake’s banks, engulfed the entire Teesta river basin, leaving behind extensive devastation from which the affected areas are still struggling to recover.
Reportedly, more than 100 people died in the GLOF and over 70 went missing. More than 4,000 were evacuated and 2,000 houses were damaged. Over 88,000 people were directly impacted by the GLOF in Sikkim and West Bengal.
Teesta primarily flows through mountains and hilly terrains of Sikkim before descending to the floodplains in West Bengal. As a result, when a significant natural disaster hits the river, it is West Bengal that bears the brunt of damage to both lives and livelihoods.
“The Union government thinks that the Teesta stops flowing after Rangpo [in Sikkim from where the river enters West Bengal]. Majority of the low-lying areas on the Teesta river basin lies in West Bengal,” Praful Rao of Save The Hills, an NGO working in disaster management in North Bengal and Sikkim, told THE WEEK over phone.
“These areas are densely populated and agriculturally rich. But these places are yet to recover from the damage caused by the GLOF. Even now the Teesta is flowing above the danger level in low-lying areas of West Bengal.”
The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the semi-autonomous governing body for administrative affairs in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, reportedly assessed the damage exceeding Rs 230 crore due to the flood in areas within its jurisdiction.
This year’s monsoon has also wreaked havoc in the West Bengal side of the Teesta basin. NH-10, the lifeline of Sikkim which connects the northeastern state to mainland India, has mostly remained shut in West Bengal for the last one month after multiple landslides and flood damaged the highway.
Visuals have appeared from the region showing the Teesta flowing above the danger level. As a result, West Bengal continues to incur flood-related damage.
The Union government’s alleged neglect was not taken well by residents along the Teesta river basin in West Bengal. They think it was politically motivated as Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang’s party Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) is part of the NDA.
“Our homes and lands, too, were washed away by the GLOF. People say the low-lying areas suffered heavy damage due to faulty construction [the Teesta 3 hydropower project in Sikkim’s Chungthang] by Sikkim Urja Limited [formerly owned by the Sikkim government],” Yogita Chhetri, a BJP member of the Teesta gram panchayat in Kalimpong, told THE WEEK over phone.
Rao said it was a political stunt by the BJP-led Centre whose tussle with Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal is known to all. “The political leaders of both the Centre and the state have made a mockery of disaster management,” he said.
Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts are part of the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency which is represented by BJP MP Raju Bista. He told THE WEEK, “The West Bengal government under CM Mamata Banerjee has refused to declare Teesta floods as a "disaster" officially, which would have enabled the WB government to spend up to 10 per cent of the annual allocation under the State Disaster Response Fund [SDRF] to provide support.”
“For West Bengal, the SDRF allocation for the financial year 2023-24 is Rs 1189.60 crores. Out of which, Rs 892 crores is central contribution, and Rs 297.60 is the state contribution. Ten per cent of Rs 1189.60 crores is Rs 118.96 crores, which the West Bengal government can use to help the Teesta flood victims.”
Meanwhile, the Union government’s decision to allocate funds for flood relief to Sikkim comes after CM Tamang submitted an extensive report for post-disaster need assessment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In his report, the Sikkim CM estimated that Rs 3,673.25 crore would be necessary for recovery and reconstruction efforts.
“The West Bengal government has not even sent a single bureaucrat to examine the damage, let alone send a report detailing the sufferings of the people from our region to the central government,” Bista said.
“Our people are suffering due to the indifference, and discriminatory policy adopted by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her government towards our region,” he added.
Interestingly, similar controversy had erupted last year when the Centre allocated Rs 44.8 crore as advance amount for Sikkim, following the GLOF.
