Central team to submit 'Aila' impact report to Home Minister

The Central team, which visited West Bengal to assess the damage caused by cyclone 'Aila', will submit its detailed report to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The team, which returned to the capital today after a three-day tour, visited all cyclone-affected districts, including South and North 24 Parganas and the Darjeeling hills and took stock of the damage caused to the people and their livelihoods.

"They are now compiling all the inputs and submit the report to the Home Minister within a day or two," a Home Ministry official said.

 On the basis of the report, the Centre will announce its compensation package for the cyclone-affected people of the state.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured the Rajya Sabha that "the Centre will do everything in its power to provide purposeful relief to West Bengal".

 Observing that a Central team has already visited the state, Singh said, "I have been in touch with the Chief Minister and there will be no laxity in meeting the need of relief and rehabilitation".

The ruling Left Front in West Bengal had demanded that the devastation caused by the Aila be declared a national calamity. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had asked for Rs 1,000 crore as calamity relief.