Mamata skips PM meeting on Yaas review

KOLKATA/BHUBANESWAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday conducted an aerial survey of the areas affected by Cyclone Yaas in Odisha and West Bengal after it made landfall in the eastern coast on Wednesday, and held separate meetings in both states to review the post-cyclone situation and damages.

While Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik attended the meeting with Modi, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee skipped the review meeting in her state citing prior commitments.

She, however, submitted a report to the Prime Minister on the damage caused by Yaas in the state, and sought a ₹20,000crore package for redevelopment of the worst-affected areas.

Modi held a review meeting at Kalaikunda in Paschim Medinipur district in Bengal, whichbanerjee was supposed to attend. However, she arrived 30 minutes later and handed him reports of damage caused by the impact of the cyclone.

Briefing the press at Digha, Banerjee said, “The PM had called for a meeting. We did not know I had a meeting in Digha. So we reached Kalaikunda to meet him and handed over a report of the damage caused by Cyclone Yaas. As per our estimation, it causes damages worth ₹20,000 crore. So, we asked for ₹10,000 crore package each for Digha and Sundarban.”

“I do not know whether we will get the aide or not. However, I, along with the chief secretary, met the PM and handed over the papers. After that, I took his permission to leave for Digha to hold the administrative review meeting,” she said.

The meeting between the two leaders lasted for around 15 minutes, an official said.

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