Cyclone Amphan live updates: PM Modi, Bengal CM conduct aerial survey of affected areas

Cyclone Amphan should be treated as national disaster: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee at Kolkata airport. (PTI)

This is PM Modi’s second visit to West Bengal this year (only state apart from UP where PM has had multiple visits this year).

PM Modi is accompanied by ministers who hail from West Bengal and Odisha- Dharmendra Pradhan, Babul Supriyo, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Debashree Chaudhuree

Five more bodies recovered from debris in West Bengal, toll in state rises to 77, say officials (PTI)

Bengal, Odisha visit: First tour for PM Modi after 83 days

The PM is going on a tour after 83 days. PM Modi's last visit was to Prayagraj and Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh on February 29.

Cyclone Amphan weakens into a deep depression over Bangladesh

Cyclone Amphan crossed West Bengal coast last evening and gradually weakened into a deep depression over Bangladesh and its neighbourhood, informed the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The IMD said it is very likely to continue to move north-northeastwards and weaken further into a depression during the next three hours and into a well-marked low-pressure area during the following 12 hours.

South 24 Parganas, which bore the brunt of Amphan’s impact, logged 12 deaths. Hundreds of houses were left twisted and ravaged by the raging storm. River embankments suffered extensive breaches, leading to water gushing into villages and flooding them. Rivers overran farms in a large part of the Sunderbans, damaging crops. The damage, still being assessed, is believed to be more extensive than what Aila caused 11 years ago.

Large parts of Kolkata, which accounted for 15 of Bengal’s 72 deaths, continued to be out of mobile coverage area and many homes did not have power, which meant that they were forced to go without water as well.

The Bengal government created a Rs 1,000-crore fund that would be used to repair damaged river embankments, houses and restore water supply in affected areas.

West Bengal chief minister Mamanta Banerjee will be accompanying PM Narendra Modi on an aerial survey of the affected areas today. Modi is scheduled to reach Kolkata at 10.45am before he and Banerjee set out for the survey; they are also slated to conduct an administrative meeting in Basirhat in North 24 Parganas before Modi flies out to Bhubaneswar in the afternoon.

At least seven districts of south Bengal — West and East Midnapore, North and South 24-Parganas, Nadia, Hooghly and Howrah — besides the state capital were severely affected and the government was still trying to assess the total financial loss to the state, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday.

More than 88,000 hectares of paddy might be lost, along with 1 lakh hectares of vegetables and 1 lakh hectares of sesame, as Bengal stares at a loss of thousands of crores of rupees.

The toll from Cyclone Amphan’s nine-hour march through south Bengal on Wednesday climbed to 72