Sept 30 deadline to finish pending infra work: Bengal CM to districts

Mentioning the number of unconstructed village roads in the five districts, Banerjee said these should be over by the end of next month. “All the work should be completed in September, because after that puja season will begin and many workers will be on holiday. So, we have to complete all the work in this period.”

The Chief Minister said she expects the Covid-19 pandemic situation to improve by September end, and added that she might go on a tour of the districts to supervise the development projects in October.

A section of administrative officials said the instructions were issued keeping the 2021 Assembly polls in mind.

“She does not have much time. Already a lot of development work and disbursement of funds are pending across the state. So, she wants to bring up the pace of executing these projects,” said a senior government official.

Regarding the disbursement of funds, Banerjee said, “Tomorrow [Wednesday] we will have a Cabinet meeting and after that we can disburse the funds together. That will be a record also.”

At the meeting, the Chief Minister alerted all the districts to remain alert the next couple of days as a depression over the Bay of Bengal might bring rains and cause floods in many districts.

Banerjee instructed the officials to help farmers, and ensure that water is quickly pumped out of inundated agricultural fields. This work should be included in the 100-days jobs programme, she added.