Mud Wall Collapse Kills 4 in South Bengal, TMC Blames BJP for Withholding Funds
Families of victims say they were eligible for central rural housing program but could not build concrete houses due to Delhi's fund freeze
Within a day of three children in Bankura's Bishnupur dying in a similar accident, four people, including a child, were killed when mud walls in four south Bengal districts fell due to the constant rain weakening them.
The families of all four fatalities said that if they had been allowed to construct sturdy dwellings using central money for rural building, the deaths might have been prevented.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Rural Development Giriraj Singh were singled out for criticism by Trinamul National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee for delaying central funds.
Shyamapada Nayak, 60, of Jamboni in Jhargram, was killed on Saturday night when he was eating dinner because a piece of the wall of his mud house collapsed on him. Police reported that he was seriously hurt and passed away en route to the hospital. Purabi Hansda, 68, of Bankura's Chhatna, and Nitya Sahish, 3, of Purulia's Kenda, perished in their sleep as a mud wall collapsed on them early on Sunday in remarkably identical circumstances.
Tamal Krishna Mondal, 78, was killed later that day at Labhpur, Birbhum, when a mud wall of his house that he was leaning against collapsed on him.
In each of these cases, the families of the victims said they were eligible for the Center's rural housing program but were unable to construct concrete dwellings because to Delhi's funding restriction.
Political discussion between Trinamul and the BJP over the fund freeze was sparked by the killings.
On Sunday, a delegation headed by Santanu Sen, a member of the Trinamul Rajya Sabha, paid visits to the victims' residences in Bishnupur and Chhatna. He sent four members of the Bishnupur grieving families—which had lost three children—to Calcutta to meet Abhishek, and as a result, they consented to participate in the Delhi protests.
"A horrible occurrence occurred yesterday (Saturday) in the Boramara village in Bishnupur, when three innocent children perished after the wall of their mud house collapsed on them as they were playing. Before leaving for Delhi, Abhishek questioned someone at the Calcutta airport: "Who is to blame for the deaths of these innocent children?
"Four residents of the village of Boramara are present with me today. Both the Bishnupur Assembly and Lok Sabha seats were lost by Trinamul Congress. Inquire of them whether the state government has unfairly targeted residents for welfare programs, he continued.
He also brought up the happenings in Chhatna and Labhpur.
The Bengal BJP leaders, Giriraj Singh, and Narendra Modi are to blame for these fatalities. Bengal BJP leaders addressed letters to the Center requesting that Bengal's funds be stopped. They have blood on their hands right now, he continued. Everyone should be detained and an investigation should be launched, including Giriraj Singh.
Sukanta Majumdar, the head of the BJP's state unit, said that money was withheld due to "malpractice" by Trinamul leaders and "misappropriation" by the Bengali government.
Trinamul is traveling to Delhi to perform a play. To provide Giriraj Singh with proof of Trinamul's misconduct, our party's MP and MLAs are also traveling to Delhi, he said.
