Cyclone Yaas: Mamata Banerjee To Stay In Control Room To Monitor Situation Closely

 Mamata Banerjee To Spend the night in Nabanna: Cyclone Yaas is expected to hit the coasts of Odisha and West Bengal later on the afternoon of May 26. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she will monitor the situation closely from the control room in the secretariat building Nabanna.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chief Minister Banerjee visited the control centre established in view of cyclone Yaas to inspect the preparations. "I have spoken to the DMs on cyclone Yaas. I will stay in Nabanna tonight. I will monitor the situation closely," said the CM.

While briefing on the steps taken to handle the situation, Mamata Banerjee said that 4,000 shelters have been prepared and a million people were to be evacuated. She added that 51 disaster management teams, 1000 electricity and 400 mobile network restoration teams have been formed. Banerjee further added that as many as 20 districts will be affected severely.

On Monday, she held a video conference with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In the meeting, Shah discussed the preparedness of the states that were expected to be affected by the cyclone. Chief Ministers of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh were also present in the meeting. Reportedly, Banerjee assured that all necessary precautions have been taken to ensure that there is minimal loss to life and property.

Allegedly, the centre has been impartial towards West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee claimed that it assured Bengal of all help but designated an advance of only Rs. 400 crore to the state. Thus, she sought to know why West Bengal is getting such a less amount despite being bigger than both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in terms of population density and number of districts. "Why are we being deprived repeatedly?" she asked.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a press release that the severe cyclonic storm is likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours. The weather bureau further stated that it is very likely to cross north Odisha-West Bengal coasts between Paradip and Sagar Island close to the north of Dhamra and south of Balasore, during Wednesday noon as a very severe cyclonic storm.