North Bengal floods: Residents queue up to recover lost documents ahead of SIR

From Aadhaar cards to land deeds, the devastating October 5 North Bengal floods swept away more than homes and livelihoods

Siliguri: From Aadhaar cards to land deeds, the devastating October 5 North Bengal floods swept away more than homes and livelihoods. With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls likely to be rolled out soon in West Bengal, people in the flood-ravaged districts are lining up at special government camps to reclaim crucial identity documents lost in the disaster.

Around 37 such camps were set up initially across Jalpaiguri, but more are being set up over the past few days in North Bengal villages.

“Initially we had set up 21 such special outreach camps from where people can get back their lost documents. They were all located inside the relief camps set up in the flood-hit areas. But now that the people are gradually returning to their villages, we are also setting up these camps in the villages,” a senior official of Darjeeling district said.

The district administrations have also launched chatbots through which people can apply to reclaim their documents, apart from the “special outreach camps” set up in flood-hit areas.

“Once we receive an application on the chatbot, our officials in the control room call the person on his mobile number and do the needful,” said a senior official of Jalpaiguri district.

Extremely heavy rainfall in the districts of north Bengal triggered landslides and floods on October 5, killing 32 people. Several thousand were rendered homeless. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee recently said that nearly 70,000 people were affected in Darjeeling district alone and around 1,300 had to be rescued and shifted to safer locations.

While Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri were the worst hit, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Kalimpong were also affected by the floods and landslides.

Banerjee had asked the district administration to set up special camps in the flood-hit areas from where people could get back their lost documents.

Around 37 such camps were set up initially across Jalpaiguri, but more are being set up over the past few days in the villages. “More than 4,000 such requests have already been received by the Jalpaiguri district administration with more than 2,400 requests coming from Nagrakata – the worst-affected block in the district,” an official said.

Documents like caste certificates, ration cards, birth and death certificates and land deeds can be issued as they are handled by various departments of state government, others such as Aadhaar cards and voter cards may take some time: Officials

“As the documents have been lost, one has to lodge a general diary with the police before applying for a duplicate one. To facilitate this, police camps have been set up alongside the special outreach camps so that people may first lodge the general diary and then move to the next counter with that receipt,” an official said.

In August this year, the state government had launched a new initiative, “Amader Para Amader Samadhan”. These are camps at the booth level to resolve local issues. “We are setting up separate counters at these Amader Para Amader Samadhan-booths too where people may approach for their lost documents,” said an official of Darjeeling district.

According to officials, while some documents such as caste certificates, ration cards, birth and death certificates and land deeds can be issued as they are handled by various departments of the state government, others such as Aadhaar cards and voter cards may take some time.

“The documents that were issued by various departments of the state government can be easily traced from our own records and we have already started issuing them. But for voter cards and Aadhaar cards it may take some time,” an official said.

Assembly elections in West Bengal are due in 2026, and preparations have already started in the state for the SIR to be rolled out anytime soon.

Amid speculation that the poll watchdog may begin a SIR of the electoral rolls in October ahead of next year’s state elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) in September held training sessions for district-level election officers in West Bengal. A team of ECI officials led by Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti visited West Bengal and held meetings to take stock of preparations ahead of the possible rollout.

Banerjee recently flagged her concerns over the timing of the SIR rollout, saying that five districts in north Bengal have been hit by floods.

“The state has been hit by a calamity. The festive season is continuing. Many people have gone out on vacation? How can they submit their documents and the electoral roll be prepared within two months? Many have lost their documents due in the disaster,” she had said while addressing reporters at the state secretariat earlier this month.

The chief minister had visited north Bengal twice after the landslides and floods to take stock of the relief and restoration work.