1 mn likely affected, says Mamata

KOLKATA:THE number of Cyclone Bulbul-hit people in West Bengal could go up to one million, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday after an aerial survey of the worst-affected areas in the state’s South 24 Parganas district.

She announced ₹2 lakh compensation each for the families of the eight who were killed in the state when the cyclone left a trail of destruction on Saturday night. Banerjee said eight fishermen were still missing.

The cyclone made landfall between Sagar Islands in South 24 Parganas and Khepupara (Bangladesh) with a wind speed of up to 125km per hour. The cyclone damaged homes, crops and uprooted trees across nine districts of southern Bengal and coastal Odisha.

Banerjee said that paddy crop over at least 2.5 lakh hectare land and 8,500 betel leaf farms have been completely destroyed. She asked the state administration to bring all the crops under insurance cover.

“The mangrove forests in the Sunderbans have suffered extensive damage. The forest department should go for extensive plantation along the embankments and river banks,” she added. Banerjee praised the state administration for a “very good job” in evacuating people. “My administration did a commendable job. The devastation, otherwise, could have been far more... If they had not rescued 1.78 lakh people, I cannot say what would have happened. They will be rewarded,” she said.

The very severe cyclonic storm, Bulbul, which crossed the Bangladesh and West Bengal coasts as a severe cyclonic storm on Saturday night, has moved east-northeastwards and weakened into a low pressure area over Nagaland. Under its influence, light to moderate rainfall at some places is likely over south Assam, Tripura and Mizoram on Tuesday.