Cyclone Yaas LIVE Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced financial assistance of Rs 1000 crore for Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand which were battered by Cyclone Yaas and said that a team of Union ministries will visit the three affected states to assess the damage. The announcement was made after Modi undertook an aerial survey of Odisha’s Bhadrak and Balasore districts which bore the brunt of the cyclone, and Purba Medinipur district in West Bengal on the east coast.
While worst affected Odisha would get Rs 500 crore immediately, another Rs 500 crore would be given to West Bengal and Jharkhand, which would be released on the basis of the damage. PM Modi also announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to each of the seriously injured in the cyclone.
Here are the latest updates as Cyclone Yaas continues to batter coastal states:
-Cyclone Yaas that caused a havoc in Jharkhand with tornadoes, torrential rains and swelling rivers damaged crops on 75 hectares of area and left about 1,500 houses, mostly raw, damaged besides injuries to 18 people. While about 20,000 people were evacuated to safer places, Jharkhand saw a major bridge collapse and four deaths due to bad weather, including one in Koderma following boundary collapse under the impact of incessant rains.
-West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sought a Rs 20,000-crore relief package after submitting a report to Prime Minister Naredra Modi on damages caused by cyclone ‘Yaas’, even as she faced harsh criticism for skipping a longer review meet to assess the post-storm situation. The state has incurred a loss of Rs 20,000 crore due to the cyclone, Banerjee said. “We have sought a package of Rs 10,000 crore each for the redevelopment of Digha and the Sunderbans… It could well be that we might not get anything,” she told reporters in the tourist town of Digha, shortly after meeting Modi at Kalaikunda in Paschim Medinipur district.
-A total of seven persons were killed due to cyclone Yaas in Bihar, even as moderate to heavy rainfall was received in most parts of the state on Friday because of a low pressure area that has been formed across the state in the wake of the cyclonic storm. One person each died in the cyclone in Patna, Darbhanga, Banka, Munger, Begusarai, Gaya and Bhojpur. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the deaths and ordered immediate payment of Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia each to the families of those who died.
-West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday conducted an aerial survey of cyclone-hit areas in North and South 24 Parganas districts, and directed officials to ensure that all people affected by the calamity get relief materials. She also inspected the beach area in the sea resort town of Digha in Purba Medinipur district which has been badly damaged by Cyclone Yaas and storm surge on Wednesday.
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