Bengal wakes up to starvation death reports

Five people, including two of a family, have died in West Midnapore, reportedly of starvation over the past three months and the state gover...

Five people, including two of a family, have died in West Midnapore, reportedly of starvation over the past three months and the state government is just gearing up to find out for itself.

The deaths occurred in the tribal village of Amlasole in Belpahari. The sarpanch has been knocking on the doors of the district administration for their intervention but there’s been no response so far. The reports have finally reached Writers’ Buildings. ‘‘I have asked the district magistrate to investigate besides sending minister Maheshwar Murmu to look into the affair,’’ Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said. Till evening though, there was no word from the minister or the DM.

Reaching Belpahari shouldn’t be so hard. Belpahari, even a little further, Kakrajhore, has ‘‘good roads’’ connecting the interior tribal villages that have no electricity, drinking water or health centres. Of late, Belpahari has become visible, since February, when PWG and MCC Naxalites blew up eight security personnel in their jeeps.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Additional District Magistrate S. Gupta said the report of starvation deaths has alerted district administration which sent a block officer to look into the conditions of others and the cases reported so far. Asked why death certificates don’t carry starvation as reason of death, as it happened on the deaths in closed tea gardens in North Bengal, a district official said: ‘‘We’ll investigate into the conditions of others in the village to reach a conclusion’’.