Cyclone Yaas: Bengal administration on its toes to ensure safety of people

By Saibal Gupta

Kolkata, May 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) For the last three days, 55-year-old Gurucharan Das, a resident of Nilpur near Digha in West Bengals East Midnapore district, couldn't go to the sea.

Das, a fisherman by profession, was restricted from venturing into the sea because of the very severe cyclonic storm 'Yaas' that is likely to make landfall in the region by Wednesday noon.

Though Das was barred from going to the sea, he went with his fishing net and sat on his boat hoping that the police might allow him for two to three hours.

Even after several requests, he was reluctant to go to the cyclone centre, the alternative arrangement made by the district administration to relocate the villagers in the wake of the cyclone threat. Finally on Tuesday evening, the local police convinced Das to shift him and his family to the cyclone centre, some 3 km from his home.

"Initially, I didn't want to go to the cyclone centre because I will have to stay there unless the administration allows me to return home, and in that case, I cannot go to the sea. I cannot survive without catching fish. It is my only means of livelihood.

"Today the police came to my house and requested that I should go to the cyclone centre. They assured me that they would let me go me once the storm is over. Moreover, they will provide all the necessary things, including food and medicine, which is very important," Das said.

Das is not alone, as several villagers living in Haropur, Alankarpur, Daha Daya, Purba Mukundapur, Begundiha, Raypur and Jhaoa -- all located in and around Digha -- were reluctant to go to the cyclone centres or the temporary shelters set up in schools.

"Most of them live in makeshift huts, which are thatched with hay or something like that. They will become the first victims of the storm if they are not relocated," a senior district official said.

"It is the priority of the administration to minimise human casualty and for that we must make Digha tourist and fishermen-free. The coastal guards and marine police have been continuously keeping a vigil to see whether anyone is left out. So far, we feel that there is no one in the sea. We have also ensured that no one stays in the boats or near the sea," an officer from the Digha police station said.

Cyclone Yaas, which is likely to make a landfall on Wednesday noon, is keeping the state administration on its toes.

Learning lessons from Cyclone Amphan that devastated Bengal last year, the state government is taking no risks this time.

People are being evacuated from Sagar islands, from villages like Akshyanagar, Bamanagar, Bhubannagar, Chandipur - all in and around Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district where the storm is likely to have a widespread impact.

"We are working for the last 24 hours and trying to reach out to the remotest parts of the villages. We are using high-sounding sirens to alert the people so that they come out of their homes and go to the cyclone centres. In most cases, these centres are close to their homes, and in case they are far, we are providing vehicles to take people to the centres," a senior district official said.

So far, the state government has been successful in evacuating more than nine lakh people from the low-lying areas against a target of relocating more than 10 lakh people.

Chief minister Mamaata Banerjee, who has decided to stay overnight in the control room at the state Secretariat, has instructed all the concerned officials to work 24x7 to avoid any kind of casualty.

The state has prepared a unified command that will coordinate with a task force of more than three lakh people, including government officials, workers, policemen, teams of NDRF, SDRF, teams for restoration of electricity and telecommunication etc.

This extended workforce will work in close coordination so that the damages caused by the storm can be mitigated at the earliest.

Source: IANS