'3 days without sleep; either let us work or cut off my head': Mamata Banerjee on protests over Cyclone Amphan response

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, with a dark and deeply sardonic tone most typically associated with Bengalis, on Saturday mocked critics and asked them to "cut off" her head when faced with questions regarding the state government's efforts to address public resentment over damages and defunct facilities in the aftermath of the Cyclone Amphan ravaging its way through Bengal.

Notably, electricity, water supply, cellular network, and several other essential services remain non-functional in several areas across Kolkata, even as much as over 50 hours after the disaster. Naturally, this has led to a reported increase in public resentment among citizens.

When asked about this issue, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked for more time to restore electricity, water, network, and other essential services in Kolkata, explaining that the state government is working day and night to mitigate the damages to infrastructure and agriculture, worth around Rs 1 lakh crore, left behind by Cyclone Amphan.

"Neither I nor my team has slept for the past three days. We are all working day and night, trying to restore everything as soon as possible. My request to every party right now is to please be patient. Let us work. If you don't like it, either gun me down or cut off my head," said Mamata Banerjee at a news conference.

Throwing in a jab at the widespread Kolkata-centric criticisms, she said, "I see people spending their days without food in the Sunderbans region. They are not getting impatient about this, so why are you?"

It is to be noted that several in Kolkata took to the streets to protest against the alleged slow and inefficient government response to defunct power connections and flooding after the catastrophic cyclone. News agency AFP reported that over 5,000 people took part in different demonstrations across the city, demanding faster action to get the 1.5 crore-strong city back to shape once again.

Referring to this, the Chief Minister said, "CESC is not in our hands. We are doing everything that we can. A total of 125 teams are working in Kolkata, while over 1,000 teams are operating in Bengal. We need skilled workers to work on repairing electricity, have asked Jharkhand, Odisha state governments for help regarding this as well."

The TMC supremo said that the West Bengal government has also requested the Indian Army for help. "We have asked for a few generators, which will be put to use temporarily on an emergency basis. Different private companies, Saltlake, and Netaji Indoor stadiums have also been asked to accumulate around 80-90 generators."

However, Banerjee admitted that due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the restoration process has taken a hit and the administration is facing trouble. "There are fewer workers due to the lockdown, which is impeding the disaster response. Even amid all these, we are having to sanitise everything due to potential virus contamination. 75% of the shops are closed. Trains are not operating. Workers are not being able to reach. Still, we have asked state government buses to keep functioning and have requested private buses to play as well," she said, promising that repair work will remain operational even on off-days. 

The cyclone that made landfall near West Bengal's Digha, ripped through the coastal districts of the two states and lay waste to standing crops in thousands of hectares, uprooted trees, blew off electric poles and communication towers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced interim assistance of Rs 1,500 crore for cyclone-hit West Bengal and Odisha after reviewing the situation caused by cyclone 'Amphan' that ripped through the coastal districts of two states and claimed at least 86 lives