PM Modi, CM Mamata take aerial survey of worst hit Amphan areas in Bengal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday conducted an aerial survey over the most affected areas of Bengal due to Cyclone Amphan. At least 80 lives were lost in the calamity, an extremely severe cyclonic storm in over 283 years that hit Bengal on Wednesday.

Cyclone Amphan lashed West Bengal, Odisha and the neighbouring country of Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon, leaving a trail of destruction in its way. PM Modi and CM Banerjee were accompanied by Governor Jagdeep Dhanker, along with Union Ministers Babul Supriyo and Debashri Chowdhury.

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Special package

A special package of Rs 1000 crore has been announced for Bengal by the PM himself, with Mamata beside him. He has pledged all possible support to Bengal which stares at economic damage close to a lakh crores. Districts such as North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas have been badly hit, with scores of villages wiped out and lakhs of people displaced. Kolkata bore the brunt of Cyclone Amphan, which tore roofs off buildings, smashed windows, pulled down trees and pylons and overturned cars.

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PM Modi landed at Kolkata airport around 11 am before visiting Bashirhat in the North 24 Parganas district, where he conducted a meeting with the CM, Governor, Chief Secretary, and District Magistrate. The Prime Minister is now in Odisha for an aerial view of the damage caused by the cyclone, along with Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pradip Sarangi. He was received by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Governor Ganeshi Lal at the airport.

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