With the Centre and the State continuing to be at loggerheads, a Union Home Ministry team, headed by a Joint Secretary, will visit West Bengal to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Yaas. The Central team, constituted by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), will visit the State for three days for spot visits and discussing the situation with the State Government officials.
Recently Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that as preliminary assessment, the cyclone had led to a damage of an estimated Rs 20,000 crore to the property and agriculture. She had also said that 18 lakh people were affected by the cyclone and around 2. 21 lakh hectares of crops and 71,560 hectares of horticulture area suffered damage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted an aerial survey of the cyclone-affected area of West Bengal on May 28 and later called a review meeting at the Kalaikunda air force station.
The Chief Minister did not attend the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, leading to the Centre issuing several notices to the Chief Secretary.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the cadre controlling ministry for the IAS officers, summoned Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay for serving in the central government.
However, he did not come to the capital and chose to retire on May 31, instead of accepting a three-month extension sanctioned to him by the state and Central Government. Subsequently, he was appointed as the chief advisor to the State Government by Banerjee.