Staff Correspondent
Port Blair, Mar 18: The delegation of Andaman Farmers and Officials of Agriculture Department, which was on a study tour to Sikkim, reportedly met with a road accident at New Jalpaiguri area in West Bengal.
According to reports, the delegation was divided into two groups. One of the group consisting mostly officials had already booked train tickets to their destination, while the other failed to book railway tickets on time.
After failed attempts to book train tickets, the second group decided to travel by road to Sikkim via New Jalpaiguri. But their vehicle met with a road accident in the area. According to reports some people on the vehicles got injuries while one lady, who is the government servant, suffered serious injuries in the mishap, while others managed to escape with minor injuries.
The administration is responsible for the safety of delegations deputed on tours to different parts of India and for making necessary travel arrangements. But in the instant case, the administration fell flat on both counts.
When Andaman Sheekha tried to seek details of the accident, senior officials refused to part with any information.
However, the Secretary of Agriculture Department, Mrs R Menaka spoke to Andaman Sheekha. She said that necessary steps are being taken to ensure the safe return of the delegation to Sikkim. She however, denied reports that anyone suffered serious injuries in the road accident. “Only one person got minor injuries,” She said.
However, Andaman Sheekha, however, has concrete evidence that one lady in the delegation fractured her left leg in the road accident.
This incident leaves many questions unanswered. Why the delegation was divided into two groups? Why the first group was in so much rush to reach Sikkim? Why all travel arrangements were not done at Port Blair?
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