About 20 hotels in Mandarmani, 50% in Digha affected by Yaas & spring tide

kolkata: The two most popular sea beach tourist destinations in East Midnapore – Digha and Mandarmani have been badly affected by the dual effect of the very severe cyclonic storm Yaas and the spring tide that resulted in a phenomenal surge of the sea on Wednesday and Thursday.

The hotels in Mandarmani which are located in very close proximity to the sea beach have been among the worst affected and 15-20 odd hotels have suffered massive damage. However, inspite of the damages the hoteliers are optimistic of a revival before the Durga Puja.

There are some 150 odd hotels in Mandarmani among which 100 are registered.

At least 50 of them have suffered damages and the ground floor of almost all of them remained inundated for about two days. The décor and the furniture have been damaged. However, 15-20 hotels have suffered structural damages and it will take at least four to five months for them to recover from it.

"The Covid situation is showing signs of improvement and places like Digha and Mandarmani are all-time favourites. If containment measures are lifted by July- August, Mandarmani will be ready to welcome tourists," Debdulal Das Mahapatra, secretary of Mandarmani Hoteliers Association said.

Out of 700 hotels in Digha, 50 per cent have been affected. In case of Shankaprur the ground floor of 22 hotels were completely flooded. "The effect of Covid has dealt a telling blow to tourism and now with Yaas we feel ourselves completely crippled," Bipradas Chakraborty, joint secretary of Digha-Shankarpur Hoteliers' Association said.

The two resorts by West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (WBTDCL) in Digha have suffered minor damages with only the landscaping and the electrical wiring at some places getting affected.

"We had taken precautionary measures like covering the glass windows with plastic sheets, trimming of the trees etc soon after the warning was received and so the damage has been at a minimum," an official in the Tourism department said.

WBTDCL's property at some other places like Gadiara in Howrah, Balutot in Bakkhali, Sagarika in Diamond Harbour and Sajnekhali in Sunderbans have also suffered similar damages.