Cyclone Bulbul: Not received single penny from Centre, says Mamata

It has been over 20 days since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of Centre’s assistance for cyclone Bulbul-affected areas. But Mamata has claimed that the state had not received a single penny.

She was replying to a question raised in the Assembly on the extent of devastation caused by cyclone Bulbul in three coastal districts of West Bengal.

“We have not received a single paise until today from the Central government, despite Minister Narendra Modi’s tweet about helping the state the next day after cyclone Bulbul made a landfall. The home minister had also tweeted,” Banerjee said.

An estimate of ₹23,000 crore was given to a Central team that visited the three districts to review the extent of loss, but no fund had been received from the Centre.

The Chief Minister said over 14 lakh hectare of agricultural land was destroyed in the cyclone and as many as 15 people had lost their lives in the natural calamity. An amount of ₹1,200 crore was released from the state finance department to help the farmers.

Banerjee said the state would also release ₹5,000 each for those betel leaf farmers who faced huge loss in the devastation.Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that the state was yet to receive a single penny as financial help from the Centre for cyclone Bulbul-affected areas despite PM Narendra Modis assurance.