WB cabinet to draw up vision plan

The West Bengal cabinet on Wednesday decided to draw up 'Vision 10 and Vision 20' plan for better performance and development in various fields in the next 10 to 20 years, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

Talking to reporters after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, she held the alleged lack of planning by the erstwhile Left Front government as responsible for the bridge collapses in the city.

We will plan for 10 years and 20 years because if there is no proper planning then there will be situations like the recent collapse of bridges. The finance department with the help of the statistics and planning department will work on this.

"With the planning we can decide on say what I can do in the field of education in 20 years' time or where can I take our education in the next 10 years, she said.

Banerjee claimed that it was the TMC government that started monitoring the bridges in Bengal and that revealed their bad state.

Now if 50 out of 100 bridges are reported to be in bad condition then the entire state will stop functioning. That cannot (be allowed to) happen. We have to think of alternatives, which may cause problems for some but will be better than losing lives, the chief minister added.

Banerjee said that a final decision on the fate of the arterial Tallah bridge in the city will be taken at a meeting of senior officers scheduled to be held under chief secretary Rajiva Sinha on Thursday.