Three days after super cyclone Amphan hit Bengal, Army was called out to assist the State Government to normalise life in Kolkata and neighbouring areas, sources in the State Home Department said.
The Army acted within hours and deployed five columns at various places primarily to clear off the major thorough fares clogged by uprooted trees. It will however help in restoration of other facilities like drinking water and power supply too, sources said.
“We received the orders and started at 2.30 pm. Then we started work at around 4 pm and have cleared about a km of road at the Southern Avenue,” an Army officer said. Initially three columns were called in to assist the State administration but two more columns were sent later on sources said.
The Army will assist the State administration and will work in tandem with the 26 teams of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and SDRF, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said while putting the total worth of the loss due to the cyclone to about Rs 1 lakh crore.
An additional 10 teams of NDRF was rushed in by the Centre from Pune sources said. “On receipt of written request from Principal Secretary Disaster Management and Civil Defence , Government of West Bengal for deployment of additional teams, ten additional NDRF teams have been mobilized and are being rushed at the earliest from NDRF locations outside West Bengal. Teams are likely to reach Kolkata by late night today (Saturday)…” the Union Home Ministry said in a statement.
The State Government also requested the Indian Railways and the private sector in providing manpower and equipment, as “we will have to clear thousands of trees and constructions” that were blocking hindering communication.
“Government of West Bengal mobilises maximum strength in unified command mode on 24x7 basis for immediate restoration of essential infrastructure and services. Army support has been called for and NDRF and SDRF teams deployed,” the Home Department said adding the “Railways, ports and private sector too (have been) requested to supply teams and equipment.”
The cyclonic storm that hit the land on May 20 at a record speed of 195 kmph before ravaging Kolkata at a maximum speed of 135 kmph left nothing intact that came its way. A similar storm had killed 1 lakh people in Odisha in 1999 while another that hit Bengal in 1737 claimed 3,00,000 lives.
While documenting the extent of loss Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee later said that the cyclone had completely destroyed about 10 lakh houses in the South 24 Parganas alone. The State Government sources said in total about 6 crore people have been affected. This included about 76 lakh people living in the district headquarters. “Nearly 99 percent of the South 24 Parganas have been wiped out,” she said.
Meanwhile, even as Army began work of clearing trees at Southern Avenue, Tollygunge and other areas hundreds of people descended on the streets demanding restoration of water supply, power and mobile connectivity. At Kasba the residents blocked road for several hours asking the ministers to come and see their condition.
Similarly at Bansdroni, Garia, Behala, James Long Sarani and other areas the police had a trying time to contain the restive people including women and children.
At Garia a senior executive working with a private firm said her family had not seen water flowing in for the past three days. “We have not taken a bath for three days and are cooking our food with mineral water.” At Jadavpur a professor said he was “finding it difficult to keep my family indoors as we have no power and it is hot and humid. If the inmates come out on the streets how will you maintain social distancing.”
Meanwhile, there was a minor scuffle between BJP and Trinamool Congress supporters when the police stopped State BJP president Dilip Ghosh from moving out to inspect the condition of South 24 Parganas.
While Ghosh returned home his followers and those of the TMC exchanged fists leading the Chief Minister to appeal to the opposition “this is no time for politics. We should work together to restore normalcy. Please keep it in mind that Bengal has witnessed a storm of this magnitude after 283 years.”
