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News Desk: As cyclone Yaas is expected to hit the coasts of Odisha and West Bengal later on the afternoon of May 26, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said “I have spoken to all the DMs on cyclone Yaas. I will stay in Nabanna tonight. I will monitor the situation closely”
“54,000 officers and relief workers, 2 lakh police and Home Guard personnel, along with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, will be deployed to tackle the fallout of the storm” she added.
Earlier on Monday, she said “As many as 4,000 cyclone shelters are ready, 10 lakh people are to be evacuated. 51 disaster management teams, 1,000 electricity and 400 mobile network restoration teams have been formed. 20 districts will be severely affected”
On Monday, she also met with the Union home minister Amit Shah over a video conference, in which Shah discussed the preparedness of states expected to be hit by the cyclone. She alleged that the center has always been impartial towards West Bengal.
She said “We had a meeting with Amit Shah-ji this morning. The Centre is providing more than Rs 600-crore each to Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, and only Rs 400 crore-something to Bengal to fight Cyclone Yaas. This is money being paid in advance, something the states are supposed to get. This isn’t extra”
“At the meeting, I sought to know why Bengal, despite being a bigger state than Odisha and Andhra Pradesh — both in terms of population density and number of districts — is getting less? Why are we being deprived repeatedly?” she asked.
“Union Home Minister had promised to extend full cooperation, but when it came to announcing advance funds for the states, Bengal got less. Odisha and Andhra Pradesh are my sister states. I do not have any problem with what the Centre is offering to them. That said, can you compare UP with Pondicherry? It depends on the population density, history, geography and the boundaries. Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji on hearing me said that scientific views are taken into consideration’ before arriving at such decisions”
