Death toll due to cyclone 'Amphan' in West Bengal now 98: Mamata

The toll in West Bengal due to Cyclone Amphan has increased to 98 and the state government is releasing Rs 6,250 crore for relief operations, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday.

She said the kin of each of those killed in the cyclone will get Rs 2.5 lakh, the badly injured will get Rs 50,000 and those with minor injuries Rs 25,000.

"According to reports of district magistrates the toll due to Cyclone Amphan has gone up from 86 to 98. We are sending money to the kin of those who have lost their lives in the calamity," Banerjee said.

The state government is releasing Rs 6,250 crore for the cyclone relief operations. Along with this, Rs 20,000 and Rs 28,000 will be given as wage to workers of the 100-day job programme," she told reporters.

The chief minister said that Rs 300 crore is being sanctioned to at least 20,000 farmers, who will each get Rs 1,500 per acre.

The state government has also sanctioned Rs 250 crore for tubewell repair, Rs 200 crore for the irrigation department and Rs 100 crore to the public works department for road repairs, she said.

Another Rs 100 crore each has been sanctioned for drinking water and toilets in schools, rural roads, fisheries and horticulture, the chief minister said.

For 'Krishak Bandhu Prakalpa', the assured financial assistance scheme for all farmers and farm households of Bengal, the state government has sanctioned Rs 800 crore. Another Rs 1,000 crore has been sanctioned for the

various pension schemes, she said.

Referring to the restoration of electricity connection post Cyclone

Amphan that hit the state on May 20, she said power connectivity has been fully restored in 10 districts and 80 per cent in six others districts.

Work has started for house to house power connection, she said, and urged people to be "a little patient".

The work of repairing river embankments have also started and 400 bridges have been repaired already. Work to plant 10 lakh mangrove trees in the Sunderbans has also started, the chief minister said.

Banerjee thanked Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for donating Rs 50 lakh to the disaster relief fund of the state. She also expressed her gratitude to former governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi for donating his one month's pension for the relief works.

West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha met Governor Dhankhar at the Raj Bhavan and briefed him about the cyclone, the COVID-19 situation in the state and issues regarding migrant workers returning to the state. The meeting lasted for two hours.

"Governor Dhankhar asked the chief secretary that steps be taken to contain the situation and impart speedy relief to the people," a senior Raj Bhavan official said.