PM Modi held a meeting to review damage caused by Cyclone Yaas in West Bengal.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived late by 30 minutes for Cyclone Yaas review meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to sources, Mamata was present at the Kalaikunda air base in West Midnapore, however, she kept the PM waiting. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari and other officials were present during the meeting.
Mamata upon entering the review meet handed over papers related to the cyclone impact to officials and said that other meetings were lined and left the meeting hall.
"It would have served interests of state and its people for CM and officials @MamataOfficial to attend Review Meet by PM. Confrontational stance ill serves interests of State or democracy. Non participation by CM and officials not in sync with constitutionalism or rule of law," Dhankhar said in a tweet.
Mamata, later, clarified that she took PM Modi's persmission before leaving from the meeting.
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"PM had called meeting. We didn't know I had meeting in Digha. I went to Kalaikunda and gave PM report, asking for Rs 20,000 cr- Rs 10,000 cr each for Digha Development and Sundarban Development. I told him you (state's officials) wanted to meet me. I took his permission and left, news agency ANI quoted Mamata Banerjee, as saying.
"Tomorrow I will do an aerial survey of the affected areas," she added.
PM Modi conducts aerial survey of Odisha, Bengal
Earlier, PM Modi visited Odisha and West Bengal to review the situation arising out of Cyclone Yaas. He undertook an aerial survey of the cyclone affected areas in Bhadrak and Baleswar districts of Odisha, and Purba Medinipur in West Bengal.
In Bhubaneswar, the Prime Minister chaired a meeting to review the relief and rehabilitation measures being undertaken.
The Prime Minister was briefed that maximum damage due to Cyclone Yaas happened in Odisha, and some parts of West Bengal and Jharkhand have also been affected.
PM Modi announced a financial assistance of Rs 1000 crore for immediate relief activities. Rs 500 crore would be immediately given to Odisha. Another Rs 500 crores has been announced for West Bengal and Jharkhand, which will be released on the basis of the damage. The government will deploy an Inter-Ministerial Team to visit the states to assess the extent of damage, based on which further assistance will be given.
