Amphan: Thousands of residents living in coastal areas in East Midnapore evacuated

“It is for the first time that we have to face two disasters simultaneously, we are facing a dual challenge of Cyclone in the time of Covid-19,” said the official adding “We have about 43 cyclone shelters in seven blocks. Together, they can accommodate 50,000 people, but we will have to reduce that number by half because of social distancing.”

Biswabrata Goswami

Statesman News Service

TAMLUK, 19 MAY: East Midnapore district administration have started evacuating thousands of people living in the coastal areas of different blocks as cyclone Amphan is likely to become a ‘super cyclonic storm’ and make landfall at the coast of West Bengal on Wednesday.

The evacuation process has been started from Ramnagar-I and II, Deshapran, Khejuri-II and Contai-I blocks as these blocks are most vulnerable. People living in kuccha and semi-pucca houses have been asked to leave their houses and take shelters in the cyclone centers which were used during cyclone Fani and Bulbul.

Partha Das, district magistrate of East Midnapore said, “Fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea and since there is no tourist in Digha, Mandarmoni and Tajpur, people living in coastal areas have already been shifted to the cyclone centers. We have also alerted people living in other places not close to the seas to stay in pucca houses only”.

“Cyclone Amphan is likely to cross the West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha and Hatiya islands in the afternoon or evening of 20 May as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph,” the MeT department said in a statement. It has issued an ‘Orange Alert’ for West Bengal.

As the district is on high alert, there is continuous announcement in the areas close to the sea. Four teams of the National Disaster Management Force have been deployed in the district and they have started work of awareness, communication and evacuation. Even if all communication lines break down, they will be able to communicate with NDRF, said a senior administrative official.

“It is for the first time that we have to face two disasters simultaneously, we are facing a dual challenge of Cyclone in the time of Covid-19,” said the official adding “We have about 43 cyclone shelters in seven blocks. Together, they can accommodate 50,000 people, but we will have to reduce that number by half because of social distancing.”

Weather officials predict that the storm will hit hardest the 7 km stretch of the East Midnapore coastal zone between Digha and Haldia.

Officials began the first phase of shifting people from risky dwellings to the shelters on Monday. In addition, the officials have requisitioned nearly 600 schools to accommodate persons who cannot be put up in cyclone shelters.

“A single room in a shelter could house 20 people. But now, we can allow five at most,” said disaster management official Mritunjay Haldar, adding that the blocks that faced most risks were Ramnagar 1 and 2, Contai 1 and 2, Khejuri 1 and 2, and Nandigram 1.

A CPI-M delegation team today submitted a memorandum before the Contai sub-divisional officer urging him to open control rooms at each gram panchayats in the vulnerable blocks and to shift the residents living in the coastal areas to cyclone rescue centers.

They said many cyclone centers are now being used as quarantine centers. So, schools in the respective blocks should open for rescue centers immediately.

“The district administration is paying more attention on Digha, but there are several blocks like Contai-3, Khejuri-I, Egra-I and II and Bhagwanpur-I and II where precautionary measures have not been taken yet”, alleged Mahmud Hossain, a former sahakari sabhadhipati of zilla-parishad.