Jharkhand-Bengal border reopened after 24-hour closure

KOLKATA, SEPT 21 : After remaining closed for around 24 hours, the West Bengal-Jharkhand border has been reopened for the movement of trucks for inter-state trade, officials said on Saturday.

The West Bengal government had closed the border on Thursday evening after the release of water by Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) from its dams located along the inter-state boundary with Jharkhand, causing flooding in districts of south Bengal.

The closure, which was scheduled to continue for three days, led to the stranding of thousands of trucks.

Reacting to the development, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said in a post on X, “Mamata Banerjee caves in to the insurmountable pressure created by the consolidated efforts of @HMOIndia, @NHAI_Official, @MORTHIndia and the resilience of the People of Jharkhand who started agitating against her for blocking the vehicles going from Jharkhand to WB.

“Mamata Banerjee, now-a-days, has gotten into the habit of taking one step forward and going four steps backward. It started from the RG Kar incident, every step taken by her as an administrator and as TMC Supremo has backfired,” the BJP leader said.

It is only the beginning, from now on Mamata Banerjee has to keep retracting and retreating,” Adhikari added.

Didi lost mental balance, says JMM after Bengal govt stops Jharkhand trucks at border

Ruling JMM in Jharkhand also made a scathing attack on Banerjee for allegedly sealing the inter-state border.

“The decision of Mamata Banerjee to seal the borders will cost her heavily. If Jharkhand seals it borders, West Bengal will get cut off from western, northern and southern parts of India.

Goods vehicles are not responsible of bringing flood to your state,” JMM general secretary and central spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said during a press conference.

-PTI