The West Bengal government today offered assistance to its Uttarakhand counterpart and said arrangements should be made to airlift tourists and pilgrims belonging to this state.
"I have spoken to the Uttarakhand Chief Minister. I have requested him to rescue the tourists and pilgrims from Bengal, who are stranded mainly in the Kedarnath area," West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told newspersons at the Writers Building today.
"We are making arrangements for some choppers to airlift the tourists. We have also requested the Uttarkhand government to send the tourists to Delhi, from where we will take care of these people," Banerjee said.
She said that the cost would be borne by the West Bengal government.
Asked about the number of tourists from Bengal, Banerjee said though she did not have the exact figure, it could be around 1000 to 1500. More than 1700 tourists are stranded in the floods in Uttarakhand.
"I am sending two of my ministers -- Madan Mitra and Rachpal Singh -- to Uttarakhand today to coordinate and arrange for the return of the tourists," the Chief Minister said.
She said that the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has told her that the situation in Kedarnath was bad but it was alright in Badrinath.
Banerjee said that she has also offered "any assistance necessary" to her Uttarakhand counterpart for the people of his state, apart from the arrangements that the Bengal government was making for those stranded from this state.
She said that her government was in constant touch with the Uttarakhand government and the state chief secretary Sanjay Mitra was coordinating with his Uttarakhand counterpart.
