Santanu Bhattacharjee: In a rare gesture Modi and Mamata came together to assess the destruction caused by the ravaging cyclone Amphan . However the joint inspection followed by a joint administrative meet also featured Jagdeep Dhankar , the state governor , with whom government had locked horns for last few weeks. Such a meet cutting across the political lines are really a welcome move .“In this hour of crisis, we must work together,” she said. In the morning( May 22). Banerjee received Modi at the Kolkata airport and later accompanied him on an aerial survey along with Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Support for Bengal poured in from all quarters. From President Ram Nath Kovind to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare Cyclone Amphan as national disaster.She made the request at the Kolkata airport on Friday while receiving PM Modi who reached West Bengal to take stock of the devastation caused by the cyclone. PM Modi will conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas.
Banerjee had earlier pitched for central assistance and appealed to PM Modi to visit the cyclone-hit areas. The state government had moved out five lakh people to shield them from the cyclone that roared into the state on Wednesday, packing winds gusting to a top speed of 185 kmph. Cyclone Amphan has left 96 people dead and thousands homeless in West Bengal, battering several parts of the state and washing away bridges and swamping low-lying areas. Soon after the joint visit declared ,two teams of the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) were airlifted by Indian Air Force (IAF) from Pune to Kolkata on Thursday, to help in the rescue and relief operations.
“We are battling a pandemic on the one hand and there is a cyclone in some parts. Dealing with the pandemic requires social distancing, whereas battling the cyclone requires people to move to safer places,” Modi said during a briefing in the presence of Banerjee. “Despite these contradictions, West Bengal is fighting well. We are all with West Bengal in these adverse times,” he added.
Modi also said all aspects relating to rehabilitation, reconstruction would be addressed. “We all want West Bengal to move ahead. The Centre will always stand with West Bengal in these testing times,” he said. Apart from the advance assistance, the Prime Minister announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of persons, who died in the cyclone, and Rs 50,000 each to persons seriously injured due to the cyclone. Banerjee later said Bengal had suffered losses of Rs 1 trillion. However, no demand was raised, she said, adding that the Prime Minister had been briefed in detail about the situation.
