Cyclone Yaas: PM Modi meets Mamata Banerjee, announces compensation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, where she submitted a preliminary report on the damages caused by the recent Cyclone Yaas. However, Banerjee skipped a review meeting with the PM, for which she was criticized by the BJP and West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. Here are more details on this.
Banerjee has offered a clarification on why she chose to skip the review meet. "Prime Minister called the meeting...We didn't know. I had a meeting in Digha (but) I went to Kalaikunda and gave the report asking for Rs. 20,000 crore. I told him you (state officials) wanted to meet me. I took his permission and left," she said, according to ANI.
The meeting between PM Modi and Banerjee also held political significance as it marked the first time the two leaders were face-to-face after the results of the March-April West Bengal Assembly elections, which Banerjee's party won.
PM Modi has announced an immediate financial assistance of Rs. 1,000 crore for relief efforts. Of this sum, Rs. 500 crore would be immediately given to Odisha, which suffered the most damage in the cyclone. The other half of the sum is meant for Jharkhand and West Bengal, and would be disbursed on the basis of the damage.
The PM also announced Rs. two lakh each for the kin of those who died in cyclone-linked incidents. An amount of Rs. 50,000 each would be given to those who have been injured due to the storm.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi took an aerial survey of various parts of Odisha and West Bengal that were hit by the cyclone. The PM also held a review meeting with Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Governor Ganeshi Lal, and Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi, to assess the damage caused in that state. The meet took place in Bhubaneswar this morning.
The "very severe" cyclonic storm Yaas had hit Odisha and West Bengal over the past few days and later moved toward Jharkhand. In that state, at least two people died after their houses collapsed. A major bridge on river Kanchi connecting Bundu with Tamar was also damaged due to incessant rainfall. Close to eight lakh people have been affected due to the cyclone there.
Earlier, at least four people died, more than 20 lakh were evacuated, and hundreds of villages were left destroyed due to the cyclone. Notably, this cyclone came just days after the monstrous Cyclone Tauktae had hit the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa.
