Cyclone Amphan sped through West Bengal on Wednesday night, leaving behind a trail of destruction in it's wake. Many people have lost their lives, and thousands of trees, have been uprooted and broken. Reports suggest that lakhs of people were rendered homeless by the storm.
While the full extent of the damage caused by the cyclone has not yet been calculated, earlier on Friday Banerjee had said that state had suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore in the fiercest cyclone to hit the state in over 100 years.
On Saturday, Banerjee said that the death toll in the state had now risen to 86.
Several parts of the state continues to be without electricity even two days after the cyclone. The Chief Minister also said that the state government was "doing whatever possible to restore electricity".
"Cyclone Amphan was a disaster. It is not the right time to do politics. We have spoken to Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation for restoration. I would like to request people to have patience," Banerjee said.
On Saturday, protests broke out in different parts of the state. In Hoogly district's Konnagar area, locals protested the lack of electricity, accusing the government of being slow to restore essential services.
In North 24 Parganas district's Titagarh, locals torched a police vehicle as they protested the lack of electricity in the area in the wake of the cyclone. The Free Press Journal's Prema Rajaram reported that the police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the crowd.
In related news, BJP MP Dilip Ghosh was stopped by the police from visiting cyclone affected areas in South 24 Parganas district. Officials said that with the coronavirus lockdown still in place, permission was required to go from one district to another.
