FINANCE MINISTER

Finance minister gifts bouquet of promises

 

COOCH BEHAR, July 14: State finance minister Mr Dasgupta declared that construction of the much-awaited bridge over Singijani river at Adabari-ghat in Dinhata may be initiated in the next fiscal year. The long demanded bridge is necessary to connect Dinhata with Sitai. Survey for construction of the proposed Rs 150-crore bridge over Tista to connect Mekhliganj with Haldibari already started. To make the bridge a reality the state would have to take assistance from the Centre, he indicated.

 

The finance minister Mr Dasgupta was addressing after inaugurating the celebration of government sponsored Forest Week at a function held at Kholta High School premises in Cooch Behar on Monday afternoon. State forest department is observing the Forest Week in this state through various programmes.

 

In the colourful inauguration ceremony the state forest minister Mr Ananta Roy and other ministers like Mr Jogesh Chandra Barman and Mr Manohar Tirkey were present.

 

During his address, the finance minister said all casual and temporary forest workers would be absorbed as permanent staff. The process already started and about 400 workers are still there to be absorbed within the next three months.

 

At the same time the finance minister declared that all the six old wooden bridges existing between Falakata and Alipurduar in Jalpaiguri district would be converted to concrete ones. The state government already initiated talks with the Centre urging financial assistance for the purpose, he said.

 

It may be recalled here that Mr Dasgupta had promised in presence of chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharya at the inauguration ceremony of the Siltorsa Bridge in 2003 that all the six wooden bridges along Alipurduar-Falakata road will be converted into concrete bridges but nothing happened till now.

 

Alipurduar MLA Mr Nirmal Das, who attended today's programme, said, he demanded several times in the past years that the finance department should hand over the required fund to the public works department (PWD) for the construction of six concrete bridges replacing the older ones. He had even raised the demand in the Assembly but no initiative was taken till now. []