Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting West Bengal and Odisha tomorrow to survey the ground situation after Cyclone Amphan clobbered the eastern states, leaving at least 72 dead and blowing up shanties, uprooting thousands of trees and swamping low-lying areas.
Earlier in the day, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had urged the Prime Minister to visit the state to review the situation.
The India Meteorological Department said the cyclone will dissipate into a deep depression and a depression, the two stages that signify a further weakening of the cyclone, in the next few hours.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had earlier advised people against going out until government's green signal.
It also said that thunderstorm accompanied by lightning and squall is likely over Bihar; with lightning and gusty winds at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh and Assam and Meghalaya.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had been monitoring the situation at state secretariat Nabanna on Tuesday night, said the impact of Amphan was "worse than coronavirus" and claimed damages due to the cyclone could be in the region of Rs 1 lakh crore.
Here are the updates on Cyclone Amphan:
Declare cyclone Amphan national calamity: CPI(M)
Cyclone Amphan should be declared a national calamity, the CPI(M) demanded on Thursday and said people in West Bengal and Odisha need the support of the Centre.
The extremely severe cyclone Amphan has left several dead and ravaged Kolkata and several parts of West Bengal and Odisha.
"Relief and rehabilitation are priority at the moment. The country and the people are already in the midst of a grim struggle for survival combating the COVID-19 pandemic. People in both states urgently need the support and solidarity of the government and people of the country," the party said in a statement.
"The central government must immediately declare this as a national calamity and substantially help states in facing the impact of this disaster," it said.