Ravik Bhattacharya

An investigation by The Indian Express revealed that Kalipodo Das exists only on paper and these beneficiaries are all unrelated. And all the three own concrete houses that withstood the cyclone.

The one on left, of a Panchayat member. In rural Bengal, the politically connected — mainly TMC, some from Opposition — are jumping line for relief even if there’s little damage to show.

Days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee promised punitive action for filing false claims, the TMC sent show-cause notices to nearly 200 party members and Panchayat functionaries in Nandigram and East Midnapore, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas.

Lakhs of skilled migrants who returned to West Bengal during the lockdown and Unlock 1 are desperate to go back to the lives and livelihoods they had to leave behind virtually overnight.

Between March 23 and April 23, the West Bengal State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) received 136 complaints — more than four every day on average — about underage girls being forced into marriage.

Rattled by the Covid outbreak, and struggling to cope with the return of migrant workers in the middle of a lockdown, the Sundarbans woke up to Cyclone Amphan 10 days ago.

According to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), as Cyclone Amphan hit the city with wind speeds of 130 kmph and more, over 5,000 trees were uprooted. While several fell on houses, the others lay across roads, blocking traffic and snapping electricity, telephone and broadband cables.

In West Bengal, PM Modi did an aerial survey of areas affected by cyclone Amphan in North and South 24 Parganas with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Roads and electricity remained cut off in large parts of West Bengal, including Kolkata on Thursday. According to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, about 5,000 trees have fallen across the city while hundreds of electricity poles have been damaged.

The rabi crop, known as Boro Dhan in Bengal, is sown in November and usually harvested by April. But this year, the lockdown has delayed the harvest by over a month, and now, farmers are racing against time to finish before the rains at the end of June.

Separated by the breadth of the country, Gujarat and West Bengal have emerged as areas of concern as the Centre tries to find its way around easing a lockdown that has stretched to more than 45 days.

The MHA also said the state was violating the Centre's guidelines that movement of goods trucks could not be stopped.

Though only two trucks were unloaded that day, 18 more could offload their cargo before the movement of goods trucks from the Indian side was again halted on Monday.

From April 21, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit the streets of Kolkata, speaking directly to the people, urging them to stay indoors.

A jute mill worker, Prajapati has been without work since March 22 and the lockdown extension has added to his worries. He says the PDS ration is not enough and he is counting on a “little advance” from the mill owner because he has run out of money.

Though almost 2,100 trucks have been stranded at Petrapole in the Bongaon area of North 24 Parganas district since March 22, only two trucks carrying jute and maize seeds from India were unloaded at the gate at zero point because of fears about the pandemic.

Explaining the arrest, DGP, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dependra Pathak told The Indian Express over the phone, “The person concerned started tweeting that the administration is doing (things) wrong".

Every day for the past several days, Mamata has been out in the city — travelling its length and breadth, visiting neighbourhoods, especially those near the coronavirus hotspots that have been sealed.

COVID-19 is to be faced unitedly, fully supporting our health warriors. Coronavirus is secular, non-discriminatory and adversely impacts all, irrespective of ideology or status. In the country, the fight against this menace to civilisation is being spearheaded by the prime minister with vision and imagination, Jagdeep Dhankar said.

“Canards are being spread that Bengal is not conducting enough tests,” the chief minister said. However, against the 14,000 test kits sought by the state, the Centre had sent only 2,500, Mamata Banerjee said.

Citing frequent lockdown violations in certain states, the Home Ministry had on Sunday said teams would be sent to the Opposition-ruled states of West Bengal, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, besides Madhya Pradesh.

The letters come close on the heels of several doctors, nurses and health workers being infected of coronavirus and over six state-run hospitals partially sealed.

Officials said 24 such families had approached them in Surjamata alone, a village of 150 families. Most people here work as daily wagers, owning no land and barely any possessions.

Covid-19: An estimated 2100 trucks, their drivers and helpers are stuck at Petrapole in West Bengal on the India-Bangladesh border owing to the lockdown.