West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday divested senior minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia of the Environment portfolio and took over the charge of the department, a senior official said.
Bhunia will, however, continue to hold the portfolio of Water Resources Investigation and Development, the official said.
Banerjee will now be looking after nine departments, including the Home and the Environment department.
The other departments under Banerjee's supervision are the Personal and Administrative Reforms, Health, Land & Land Reforms And Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Information and Cultural Affairs, Planning and Statistics in addition to the Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department.
Asked what could be the reason behind Bhunia's removal from the Environment department, the official said that the recent incidents of blasts in illegal firecracker units at Egra, Budge Budge, and other parts of the state.
"The CM is quite concerned about blasts in illegal firecracker units in the state. There is a concern about where all the explosives were smuggled... The CM now wants to look after the department personally," the official said.