Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced an “advance interim assistance” of Rs 1,000 crore to West Bengal for relief and rehabilitation to handle the aftermath of the Cyclone Amphan that had hit the state on Wednesday evening. The cyclone led to 80 deaths, damaged homes, agricultural land, and ravaged the city of Kolkata where apart from damaged homes, thousands of trees and electrical poles were uprooted. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said earlier that the losses were estimated to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore. She has asked five departments in the state to assess the losses and submit their reports within a week.
The PM on Friday landed in Kolkata at around 11, and was received by chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. Then they did an aerial survey of the affected areas. “Rs 1,000 crore advance assurance will be given to West Bengal,” PM Modi said at Basirhat in North 24 Parganas, after the aerial survey. “All aspects of relief and rehabilitation will be addressed. We want to work together to ensure West Bengal stands on its feet again,” Modi said. “I am here to assure everyone in Bengal that the Central government will be standing with you shoulder to shoulder at this time of crisis.”
The PM assured Rs 2 lakh each to the families of those who lost their lives and Rs 50,000 to each of the injured. After the visit of the Prime Minister, Banerjee said, “The state needs a lot of money to overcome the crisis. We are not mentioning any amount now, but the losses have been unimaginable and devastating.”
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