New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Friday financial assistance worth Rs 500 crore to Odisha in the aftermath of Cyclone Yaas. He said the Centre will deploy an inter-ministerial team to visit Odisha to assess the extent of damage, based on which further assistance will be granted.
Earlier in the day Modi reviewed Friday the post-cyclone situation and damages caused by the severe storm ‘Yaas’ at a meeting adter arriving in Bhubaneswar. Narendra Modi was received by Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here. The review meeting was held at the airport conference hall itself. It was also attended by senior officials of various departments of the Odisha government.
Patnaik had earlier tweeted: “Received Hon’ble PM@narendramodi ji who is visiting #Odisha in the aftermath of #CycloneYaas. Look forward to a productive discussion and full cooperation of Centre towards making Odisha a cyclone resilient state.”
See video: https://twitter.com/i/status/1398171328729935874
Cyclone ‘Yaas’, packing winds gusting to 145 kmph whiplashed parts of Indias eastern coast Wednesday. It left behind a trail of damaged homes and flooded farmland, forcing more than 21 lakh people to be evacuated to safe shelters in the states of West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand.
After the havoc caused by the cyclonic storm, heavy post-cyclone rains Thursday has seen river water levels rising above the danger mark, placing four districts of Odisha – Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Keonjhar – on high alert.
Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena informed after the meeting that Odisha has not requested the prime minister to provide additional funds to tackle the after effects of cyclone ‘Yaas’. On the other hand, the state government has emphasized for a disaster resilient infrastructure in coastal areas. The state government has sought the Centre’s support in developing such infrastructure.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to leave for West Bengal at 12.10 pm after an aerial survey of the cyclone-hit Balasore and Bhadrak districts. From there, Modi will make an aerial survey of Purba Medinipore district in West Bengal before landing at the Kalaikunda Airforce base. He will then hold a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister and other senior officials of the state. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar is also expected to be present in the meeting.
