PM takes stock of Yaas damage, may conduct aerial survey today
KOLKATA/BHUVANESHWAR/ RANCHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a meeting to assess the impact of Cyclone Yaas and take stock of the relief work being done in Odisha and West Bengal, said a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office. He is likely to do an aerial survey of the affected areas in the two states on Friday.
At the meeting, Modi advised the various central and state agencies to ensure that normal life is restored in the affected areas at the earliest. Officials present at the meeting told the PM that 106 teams of National Disaster Response Force were deployed — 46 each in both states — that rescued more than a thousand people and removed more than 2,500 trees/poles that had toppled and blocked roads. The army and the coast guard also rescued marooned people, while the navy and air force were on the alert.
The cyclone didn’t inflict any major damage except causing a huge amount of rain in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore and Bhadrak districts in Odisha. The state government is yet to assess any damage caused by rain.
Special relief commissioner Pradip Jena said that people in Odisha’s low-lying areas of Bhadrak and Jajpur districts were evacuated due to the expected flooding of the Baitarani river.
“Had this cyclone hit the State during monsoon, it would have created a dangerous flood situation. But since it is summer, rivers and canals are dry and the soil is dry, so we are not expecting floods anywhere except for a probable medium-level flood situation in the Baitarani river,” said Jena, adding that the river has crossed the danger level at Anandpur and Akhuapada but no village has been affected by it.
The state’s toll stood at 3, Jena said, adding that the cyclone has now moved out of Odisha.
Earlier in the day, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik directed that power supply be restored to at least 80% of affected consumers in the next 24 hours. He also announced seven-day relief for all families of 128 marooned villages. He congratulated all the panchayat representatives, district administrations, community organisations, and the police for their excellent work in evacuation.
Elsewhere in West Bengal, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced a preliminary package of ₹1,000 crore for immediate relief work while claiming that the damage in the state was to the tune of ₹15,000 crore. “Till now we have assessed the damage to be around ₹15,000 crore. This is a very preliminary assessment. Even on Thursday mini tornadoes and gales were reported from some districts... Two people were killed in lightning strikes. All these would add up,” said Banerjee.
The cyclone affected more than one million people in Jharkhand, including two deaths in Ranchi, said officials.