Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance of financial assistance for the relief of people affected by cyclone Bulbul, no funds have been received.
While informing the Assembly, Banerjee said, “There was a massive damage due to Bulbul. Our estimate of damage was nearly Rs 23,000 crore.
Recently, a central team had come to assess the ground situation and to estimate the total loss in areas affected by the cyclone. But despite that we are still waiting for the central fund. I hope PM Modi will keep his promise.”
She said that even PM Modi had reviewed the situation and assured of all possible assistance from the Centre. “But we have not received any funds so far for the cyclone-affected people,” she added.
On November 9, cyclone Bulbul made landfall in Bengal’s Sagar Island and next day morning it moved north-eastwards into neighbouring Bangladesh, hovering over the Sunderbans delta.
After making landfall, the cyclone was downgraded from a very severe cyclonic storm to a severe cyclonic storm. It stayed in very severe category for only a few hours after which its windspeed dropped considerably.
Later, Banerjee did an aerial survey and interacted with the affected people and asked the officials to expedite the rescue and relief operations.
BJP leader Babul Supriyo alleged that Banerjee has exaggerated the loss estimate. He said, “PM Modi asked me to visit the affected areas. I went there and found that the state government is misleading the Centre on estimate loss and required funds.”
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