Rajib pays visit to the houses of the persons who died during Amphan

Biswabrata Goswami

KRISHNAGAR, 23 MAY: The state forest minister Rajib Banerjee, today, paid his visits to the houses of six persons who died during the super cyclone Amphan in Nadia.

He handed over the cheques of Rs 2.5 lakhs each to the families of the six victims as compensation on behalf of the state government.

A day after the super cyclone Amphan battered the state, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh for the family members of each of the deceased.

Mr Banerjee accompanied by the party’s Ranaghat district president Sankar Singh had gone to the house of one Kena Mondol in Kalyani who died during the cyclone and handed over the cheque of Rs 2.5 lakh to his family members.

Before paying his visits to the houses of the deceased, Mr Banerjee held an administrative meeting at Kalyani Vidyasagar Manch where the district magistrate Vibhu Goel, Ranaghat SP, Anantanag, Sabhadhipati Rikta Kundu and others attended the meeting.

While visiting the houses of the deceased in Kalyani, he faced the wrath of a section of residents in Kalyani’s Block A.

He said, “The disaster was never imagined. It has battered the state with huge electric poles and trees lying uprooted and sub-stations damaged. People should try to understand”.

He later went to the house of the deceased in Krishnagar and handed over the cheque to the family members.

While reacting to a question, Mr Banerjee said, “I have collected information from the district administration about the extent of damage and I have also interacted with people. After returning from here, I will inform my observation to the chief minister. I have also asked the district magistrate to prepare a report about the extent of damage within two or three days”.  

Orange tag under threat: Six fresh Covid cases; tally rises to 25 in Nadia, leaders defy protocols

Mohua Maitra may alert the people, but her party leaderships in the district do not adhere to the protocol for containing the disease. Even, she herself defied protocols when she took part in a programme where the state's forest minister and the party's Nadia district observer Rajib Banerjee paid a visit to the house of the person who died during super cyclone Amphan.

Biswabrata Goswami

Statesman News Service

KRISHNAGAR, 23 MAY: Yet another six migrant workers, who returned their houses from Maharashtra, tested positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of official cumulative cases in Nadia to 25 in the last 24 hours.

The district administration, however, deleted four positive cases from its account citing reason that they had tested positive outside the district. At present the district has 16 active cases and three persons have been discharged today.

As the Nadia district falls under the orange zone, the fresh new six cases in a single day may put it into the red zone.

Dr Asit Kumar Dewan, deputy CMOH-II said, “All the six migrants have come from Mharashtra. They are residents of Gangnapur and Dhantala areas in Ranaghat. We sent the swab samples to Kolkata two days ago and their test reports have come positive for Covid-19 last night”.

Dr Dewan also said that a total of 30 persons, all relatives and family members of the migrants have been advised to stay in home quarantine and their swab samples have also been collected for tests.

All the six migrant workers have been admitted to the Kalyani SNR Covid hospital, said Dr Ayan Ghosh, in-charge of the covid hospital.

A few days ago, two migrant workers from Kerala had tested positive and they are the residents of Tehatta and Thanarpara areas.

Four days ago before the two migrants tested positive, seven persons including a nine-month-old girl had tested positive for Covid-19 in the last two consecutive days, taking the total number of cumulative cases to 16 till 14 May.

Panic gripped the locality soon after they were found tested positive.

In a message, Mohua Maitra, a Trinamul Congress MP immediately urged to the people saying “The time has now come to be cautious about the spread of the virus because many migrant workers will come from other states in coming days. It was seen the family members of the worker at Thanarpara had met neighbours and went to markets. If their test reports come negative, then there will be no problem. But, if the report comes positive, then we will have to send the persons who came in contact with them in quarantine center to prevent any further spread of the disease in the community.”

Ms Maitra may alert the people, but her party leaderships in the district do not adhere to the protocol for containing the disease. Even, she herself defied protocols when she took part in a programme where the state's forest minister and the party's Nadia district observer Rajib Banerjee paid a visit to the house of the person who died during super cyclone Amphan. Mr Banerjee handed over a cheque of Rs 2.50 lakh to the family members of the deceased in Krishnagar today.

During his visit, it was seen, the TMC leaders and the administrative officials came close to each other, thus violating the protocols. Though, the strict restrictions had been enforced for the journalists and photographers.  

Today, Gouri Dutta, a TMC MLA from Tehatta organized a meeting with Imams where it was seen that none bothered to maintain social distance while attending the meeting.

In Chapra, the party’s minister for correctional homes, Ujjal Biswas did the same thing where workers did defied protocols. 

Even, the opposition BJP leaders put the similar instance alike the ruling party leaders when they squatted in front of the Krishnagar municipality gate in Krishnagar on various issues. They violated protocols while conducting the agitation.   

Cyclone Amphan leaves trail of destruction in Nadia, East and West Midnapore districts

The cyclone with wind speed of up to 185 km/hour left a trail of destruction with the homes and crops damaged in the East Midnapore, West Midnapore and Nadia, affecting around ten lakh people living in these three districts.

Biswabrata Goswami

KRISHNAGAR, 21 MAY: Cyclone Amphan, the strongest storm on record in the Bay of Bengal, which made landfall near Sagar Islands in South 24 Parganas on Wednesday afternoon, left at least 12 people dead in East Midnapore and Nadia before losing steam and veering off towards Bangladesh as a deep depression.

The cyclone with wind speed of up to 185 km/hour left a trail of destruction with the homes and crops damaged in the East Midnapore, West Midnapore and Nadia, affecting around ten lakh people living in these three districts.

The cyclone, initially predicted to pass through Digha first, but it moved through Haldia, Nandigram and Contai with wind speed from 165 to 185 km/hour leaving an extensive damage in these areas in East Midnapore.

According to officials, at least six persons died in East Midnapore - most of them either electrocuted or killed by trees uprooted by winds that gusted up to 185 km per hour (115 mph).

Mass evacuations organised by authorities before Cyclone Amphan made landfall undoubtedly saved countless lives, but the full extent of the casualties and damage to property would only be known once communications were restored, officials said.

The storm ravaged the industrial infrastructure in the port town of Haldia, officials confirming that the chimneys and towers of many industries had been permanently damaged. The premises of many industries have also been inundated by rain water forcing the authorities to shut down machines.

Hundreds of electricity poles and lines collapsed in strong winds in Haldia alone. This apart, several vehicles parked inside the premises or beside the lanes approaching industries had been severely damaged.

Sources in the NDRF said rescue personnel had reached Haldia and were clearing uprooted trees off the highways. Digha, in true sense, did not report major damage.

Officials said Jelingham in Nandigram and Sankarpur were severely affected too. A woman was crushed to death in Jelingham when the wall of her mud home collapsed, they added.

“The cyclone reached East Midnapore shortly after 2.30 pm and continually gathered strength. It reached speeds between 160 kmph and 190 kmph and stayed longer than expected,” said a disaster management official.

Apart from industrial town Haldia, the cyclone caused extensive damage in rural areas of Haldia, Nandigram, Tamluk, Ramnagar-I and II, Khejuri-I and II, Deshapran and Contai-I and II blocks.

Nearly one lakh mud houses either fully damaged or partially damaged due to the impact of the storm.

This apart, hundreds of hectares of agricultural lands where aman crops were full grown across the district were flattened due to the impact of the severe storm. Betel vines and flower and vegetable cultivation were severely affected across the district.

In West Midnapore, more than 10000 houses have been damaged and hundreds of trees and electric poles were uprooted. Though, there is no report of casualties, but the worst hit areas have been detected as Dantan, Pingla and Sabang, an administrative official said.

The extremely severe cyclonic storm, which brought in its wake heavy rain coupled with gale winds, damaged thousands of houses, uprooted hundreds of trees and snapped cables mostly in

Kalyani, Haringhata, Ranaghat, Santipur, Krishnagar, Nakashipara, Debagram, Kaliganj, Tehatta and Karimpur in Nadia.

According to officials, six persons died in the district as the extremely severe cyclonic storm lashed the district. Among the dead, one from Krishnagar while the rest died in Kalyani, Chakdaha and Ranaghat areas.

Arun Biswas (50) of Ghetugachi and Ratan Sarkar (70) of Dewali Narayanpur in Chakdaha died when trees fell on their huts during the cyclone. Arun Biswas died on the spot while Ratan Sarkar succumbed to his injuries at Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital in Kalyani, a police official said. One Balai Pal of Palpara in Chakdaha died of cardiac failure as he reportedly was panicked when the cyclone hit the area.

In Kalyani, Kena Mondol (75) of Ghoragacha died after a wall collapsed on him during the cyclone.  

Narendra Nandi (71) of Sandhya Ramnagar Para under Kotwali police limits in Krishnagar died when a tree fell on her house.

Minati Burman of Gourisali in Gangnapur died after being struck by lightning during the cyclone.

Amphan wreaks havoc on East Midnapore

Biswabrata Goswami

TAMLUK, 20 MAY: Amphan, meaning the sky in Thai, which barreled through the coastal blocks in East Midnapore before hurtling towards Bangladesh, has wreaked havoc across the coastal district, leaving at least two people dead, tonight.

The extremely severe cyclonic storm, which brought in its wake heavy rain coupled with gale winds, damaged thousands of houses, uprooted hundreds of trees and snapped cables mostly in Nandigram-I and II, Egra-I and II, Deshapran, Ramnagar-I and Contai blocks in East Midnapore.

This apart, hundreds of hectares of agricultural lands where aman crops were full grown stage across the district were flattened due to the impact of the severe storm. Betel vines and flower and vegetable cultivation were severely affected across the district.

According to the reports from Digha Development Authority, the sea beaches like Digha, Manadarmani and Tajpur were also affected. Several shops in Digha were damaged and high tidal waves flooded over 100 coastal villages in East Midnapore as well as Digha, affecting nearly 10,000 people and leaving thousands homeless.

Over 500 mud huts collapsed immediately after the impact of the cyclonic storm, rendering over 2,000 people homeless. The villagers have been shifted to relief camps set up by panchayats in Shankarpur, Deshpran, Tajpur, Khejuri and Kendamari in Nandigram.

Due to heavy rainfall, hundreds of acres of low-lying areas in the coastal belt have been inundated. Srikanta Jana, 47, a fisherman from the coastal village of Tajpur, about 10 km from Digha, said the sea began to swell since last night.

“There was chest-deep water in most parts of the village by 11 p.m. The winds were so strong that my hut collapsed in front of my eyes. We took shelter at a relief camp set up at a primary school in our village,” Jana said.

“Around 500 people from our village and neighbouring areas have taken shelter at the camp.”

Partha Ghosh, district magistrate, East Midnapore said, “It is too early to say anything about the damage. The NDRF teams are working at the vulnerable areas. They are mostly busy rescuing people from worst affected areas”.

Amphan : At a glance in Bengal

Extremely severe cyclone Amphan, packing winds of up to 190 kmph roared into the state on Wednesday, dumping heavy rain and leaving a trail of destruction that left at least twelve people dead. After making landfall at 2.30 pm between Digha in West Bengal and and Hatiya island in Bangladesh, cyclone Amphan cut a swathe through the coastal areas, flattening fragile dwellings, uprooting trees and electric poles. At least 6.58 lakh people were evacuated in West Bengal and Odisha before the cyclone struck. NDRF said that 20 teams of the federal disaster response force had already begun road clearing operations in Odisha, while the 19 units deployed in West Bengal were shifting people to safety.

Amphan : It took a slight un-predicted route while crossing the state after landfall.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) confirmed that the depression over the Bay of Bengal concentrated into a Cyclonic Storm during on Saturday evening and further intensified rapidly into a Severe Cyclonic Storm on Sunday morning and into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm on Sunday evening.

As per the forecast, the system continued on its track of north-northwestwards till Sunday and then re-curved north-northeastwards from Monday to Wednesday. The IMD forecasts that the Cyclone Amphan is very likely to cross West Bengal–Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) during afternoon or evening hours of Wednesday, May 20, as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm.

The cyclone finally took a slight curve from the predicted route and crossed the districts like Hooghly and Nadia.

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.

IIT KGP and ICMR Collaboration for Mega Boost to Medical Technology Industry and Healthcare Ecosystem of India

“We thank ICMR, the apex body of Government of India spearheading biomedical research, for entrusting us with this responsibility. We look forward to working closely with ICMR and making meaningful contributions through these efforts. We had a rewarding experience in engaging with ICMR through a pilot ICMR – IIT Kharagpur MedTech internship program that drew great interest among engineering and medical students,” said Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur.

Biswabrata Goswami

MIDNAPORE, 19 MAY: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur is going to set up a Centre of Excellence on Medical Device and Diagnostics to foster innovation of affordable and indigenous medical devices and diagnostics in priority areas and promote entrepreneurship. The proposal has recently been accepted for funding of ₹20 crore by Indian Council of Medical Research.

In January 2020, ICMR had given a call for setting up a Centre of Excellence based on which IIT Kharagpur had proposed for the set up with thrust areas encompassing artificial intelligence in healthcare, medical devices for screening and diagnostics in healthcare, medical implants, biosensors in healthcare etc.

“We thank ICMR, the apex body of Government of India spearheading biomedical research, for entrusting us with this responsibility. We look forward to working closely with ICMR and making meaningful contributions through these efforts. We had a rewarding experience in engaging with ICMR through a pilot ICMR – IIT Kharagpur MedTech internship program that drew great interest among engineering and medical students,” said Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur.

India’s population size makes her healthcare challenges particularly the needs of the marginalized population in remote areas, unique, which require indigenous solutions. Accessibility and affordability have to be two key pillars of India’s medical technology development efforts. 

The coming together of ICMR and IIT Kharagpur is expected to give a big boost to already initiated R & D efforts at IIT Kharagpur that aim to lessen the burden of present pandemic. Further in the long run, this association will help the Institute achieve the goals set for the upcoming  Dr. B C Roy Institute of Medical Science & Research, a R & D driven super-speciality hospital followed by the first of its kind medical college in the IIT system.

“Recently we heard that people residing in nearby areas of West Bengal and neighboring states of Jharkhand and Odisha are feeling hopeful that the burden of accessing healthcare facilities on patients and their families would be reduced with the upcoming superspecialty hospital of IIT Kharagpur. This can be taken further by catering to the need of a patient to visit a hospital through technology enabled healthcare at home and local level. The ICMR-IIT KGP Centre of Excellence will carry this responsibility forward with the much needed boost by bringing medical and technology domains together” said Director Tewari.

The centre will target to develop marketable technologies in a mission oriented time frame and use this experience to achieve longer-term goals to address challenging problems in the field of medical devices and diagnostics. Also, new intellectual property generation and a clearly defined licensing path will be the priority of the centre. Further the centre will try to extend medical technology related support to other organizations including different centres of ICMR.

Two migrant workers among three test positive in Nadia

In her message, Ms Maitra said, “It was seen that the family members of the worker at Thanarpara had met neighbours and went to markets in the last few days. If their test reports come negative, then there will be no problem. But, if the report comes positive, then we will have to send the persons who came in contact with them in quarantine center to prevent any further spread of the disease in the community”.

Biswabrata Goswami

Statesman News Service

KRISHNAGAR, 18 MAY: Another three persons including two migrant workers tested positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of cumulative cases in Nadia to 19.

The district administration, however, deleted four cases from its account citing reason that they had tested positive outside the district.

In an important announcement, the Trinamul Congress MP Mahua Maitra informed that two migrant workers from Kerala had recently returned their homes at Tehatta and Thanarpara areas. But the due have tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday. They have already admitted in the Kalyani SNR Carnival Covid hospital and the family members of the two workers have also been taken to an isolation center for tests.

In her message, Ms Maitra said, “It was seen that the family members of the worker at Thanarpara had met neighbours and went to markets in the last few days. If their test reports come negative, then there will be no problem. But, if the report comes positive, then we will have to send the persons who came in contact with them in quarantine center to prevent any further spread of the disease in the community”.

Ms Maitra urges to the people that the time has now come to be cautious about the spread of the virus because many migrant workers will come from other states in coming days.

Four days ago, seven persons including a nine-month-old girl had tested positive for Covid-19 in the last two consecutive days, taking the total number of cumulative cases to 16 till 14 May.

Among the seven positive cases, a nine-month-old girl child, a resident of Barkulia village under Bagachra panchayat in Santipur, was tested positive.

Yesterday, her mother has tested positive also. The girl was admitted in a private hospital at Park Circus in Kolkata around 15 days ago for her ailments. Her family members, however, brought her back to their home in fear a few days later when some corona positive cases were reported in that hospital. They then took her to the Santipur block hospital for treatment from where she was referred to the Krishnagar Sadar hospital. As her condition was critical, she was again referred to the Kalyani Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital a few days ago.

“A few days ago, her swab sample was sent to Kolkata for a test and her test report showed positive on 14 May”, said a senior health official.