West Bengal has said that it has written to the Centre asking it to defer the date from when domestic flights will resume from Kolkata, ANI reported on Sunday. The state has asked that it begin domestic flights on Thursday, May 28, due to the government being busy with relief work after Cyclone Amphan hit the state last week.

A reduced number of flights will be operated from Kolkata. On Saturday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had asked the Centre to postpone resuming flight services from Kolkata and Bagdogra by a few days. Earlier, the state had asked that the movement of special trains also be put off to May 27.

The state has suffered a loss of about Rs 1 lakh crore to infrastructure and crops and at least 86 people have died after Cyclone Amphan hit it. On Saturday, Mamata Banerjee on Saturday urged people to be patient and sought more time for restoration of essential services. The chief minister assured people that her administration is working to restore normalcy, adding that drinking water has been contaminated due to the floods after the cyclone. The West Bengal government had also sought help from the Indian Army after protests. The Army on Saturday sent three columns of troops to assist the Kolkata City Civil Administration to help with restoration work. Two more were sent to North and South 24 Parganas districts, PTI reported.

Also read: Cyclone Amphan: ‘Working day and night,’ says Mamata Banerjee, seeks time to restore services