Narendra Modi to hold review meeting with Mamata Banerjee on Yaas

Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the impact of cyclone Yaas, at Kalaikunda Air Force Station, on Friday, officials said.

Before the meeting, the Prime Minister will make an aerial survey of the affected places of Odisha and West Bengal to assess the damages caused by the storm.

Banerjee, who is also scheduled to visit the affected places of South and North 24 Parganas on Friday along with chief secretary Alapan Bandopahdyay, will reach Kalaikunda in the afternoon after conducting two administrative meetings - one at Hingalganj in North 24 Parganas and another at Sagar in South 24 Parganas.

The Chief Minister will also conduct a review meeting at Digha in East Midnapore on Saturday and come back to Kolkata on the same day.

"After making the aerial survey I shall drop first at Hingalganj and then at Sagar to take a primary report from the district magistrates regarding the damages caused by the storm. The Prime Minister who will also be visiting the affected parts has called for a meeting and so I shall fly to Kalaikunda to meet the Prime Minister. Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay will be with me," Banerjee said.

However, Governor Jagdeep Dhankar will be receiving the Prime Minister on Friday at Kalaikunda.

In a tweet Dhankar wrote on his Twitter handle: "WB Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will receive PM Narendra Modi at Kalaikunda Air Force Station on May 28. The Prime Minister will visit areas affected #CycloneYass in WB to assess damage to life & material. Governor Dhankhar will attend PM Review Meet with the State Government @MamataOfficial."

Modi will first land in Bhubaneshwar and conduct a review meeting with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. After that he would conduct the aerial survey and then come back to Kalaikunda and conduct the review meeting and fly back to Delhi.

Official sources in the state secretariat indicated that the chief minister will demand central assistance to continue on with the relief and rescue operation in the state.

"Though the state government is yet to make a full-fledged estimate of the financial loss caused by the storm and subsequent flooding, apparently it seems that there has been damage worth 15,000 crore. This is likely to increase as we make an estimate once the water subsides. The major loss has been in the areas of agriculture, housing, roads and embankments," a senior official of the state government said.