Cyclone Amphan: Congress' Adhir Chowdhury urges PM Modi to extend assistance to WB, Odisha

On Thursday, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to extend all possible financial assistance and cooperation to West Bengal and Odisha, which were severely affected by Cyclone Amphan. The senior Congress leader highlighted that the “unprecedented devastation” on Wednesday implied that West Bengal faced a triple whammy including COVID-19, migrants’ crisis, and Cyclone Amphan. The MP from the Baharampur constituency also pointed out that the neighbouring state Odisha had been impacted too. So far, 72 casualties owing to Cyclone Amphan have been reported in West Bengal.  

Read: Cyclone Amphan: WB Govt Announces Compensation For Victims; CM Makes A Request To PM Modi

West Bengal Governor writes to Mamata Banerjee

In a letter addressed to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar noted that Cyclone Amphan has left a trail of destruction, human woes, and misery in the state. He appealed to everyone for assistance to alleviate the excruciating agony faced by the people. The West Bengal Governor urged Banerjee to submit a report regarding this so that the appropriate way forward can be charted out. Banerjee has declared an ex-gratia of Rs.2.5 lakh to the kin of the deceased. Maintaining that she had not seen such a disaster like this before, the WB CM said that she would invite PM Modi to visit the cyclone-hit areas of the state. 

Read: A Day After Cyclone Amphan's Damaging Impact, Kolkata Airport Resumes Operations At Noon

MHA team to assess the damage

Addressing a press conference, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) chief SN Pradhan and India Meteorological Department (IMD) chief Mrityunjay Mohapatra talked about the Cyclone Amphan situation. Mentioning that the cyclone-affected areas in Odisha could return to normal life in 24-48 hours, the NDRF chief added that 4 additional teams were being airlifted to Kolkata, which shall be at the disposal of the West Bengal government. He conceded that the damage in West Bengal was more than expected and announced that a team of the Ministry of Home Affairs would visit the state to evaluate the damage.

He warned that the number of injured and dead in West Bengal could increase. Meanwhile, the IMD chief predicted very to very heavy rainfall in the western part of Assam and Meghalaya. According to him, there can be rain at isolated places in Arunachal Pradesh. 

Read: Cyclone Amphan: NDRF Assures Normalcy Within 48 Hrs In Odisha; Says Damage Greater In WB

Read: '72 Dead Due To Cyclone Amphan': West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Urges PM Modi To Visit