New Delhi, Oct.12: The Centre today released Rs 120 crore for earthquake-ravaged north Bengal, within 12 hours of Mamata Banerjee requesting a Union home ministry team for Rs 500 crore. The money released is the remaining portion of the Centre’s share in the Rs 320 crore earmarked for Bengal under the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) this year. During the meeting with the central team led by Shambhu Singh in Kalimpong last night, the chief minister had requested for Rs 500 crore for relief and rehabilitation work in Darjeeling, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur and Malda. The 6.8 quake on September 18 had caused damage to life and property in these districts. The Centre had given Rs 120 crore in August and another instalment of the same amount was due in December. The central team requested Mamata to apply for this instalment. The chief minister made a verbal request last night and the state government sent it in a written format this morning. The Centre then disbursed the amount in advance. Sources in the Union home ministry said the request for Rs 500 crore would be “tough to accept”. “The Bengal government’s quota under the SDRF is Rs 320 crore this year. Of this, the state has to shell out Rs 80 crore. The Centre has already released its share of Rs 240 crore. It is tough to accept the request of Rs 500 crore,” a home ministry official said. The sources said the quake assessment report submitted by the state government was not in the format laid down by the Centre. “The team that met Mamata Banerjee yesterday told her that the report has to be sent in the official format,” the official said. Another reason why it was “tough” to disburse more funds, the official said, was that the Bengal government already had unutilised funds under the SDRF to the tune of Rs 554.55 crore. “Unless the state submits an utilisation certificate, more funds can’t be released immediately,” the official said. During her visit to Darjeeling yesterday, Mamata had said the state government had asked for Rs 495 crore for quake-hit north Bengal and added that she would ask for an additional Rs 500 crore since Darjeeling was “worse affected” than Sikkim. After the Centre disbursed Rs 120 crore today, industries minister Partha Chatterjee said at Writers’ Buildings: “I have heard about this. But unless I see the report, I will not be able to comment.” The central team set up to assess the damage caused by the quake consists of officials of the Home, agriculture, rural development, water resources, health, power, roads and drinking water departments. The team visited Kalimpong, Darjeeling and some interior areas before returning to Delhi via Calcutta.