Kolkata: A team of 27 ham radio enthusiasts from West Bengal Radio Club has reached Sunderbans in case the communication system gets disrupted due to Cyclone ‘Remal’ which made its landfall between Khepupara in Bangladesh and Sagar Islands in Sunderbans on Sunday night.
Very heavy rainfall backed by wind speed of over 120 km gusting up to 135 km is expected to sweep over the coastal belt of South 24-Parganas and North 24-Parganas. The ham radio stations have been set up at strategic locations at seven places as per directions of the district administration that includes Sagar, Kakdwip, Gosaba, Namkhana, G Plot, Mousuni Islands and Ghoramara. Two QRT teams have been readied for immediate intervention in case of emergency.
The district magistrate of South 24-Parganas Sumit Gupta on Saturday wrote to the secretary of WBRC, Ambarish Nag Biswas for deployment of a team in South 24-Parganas for better communication during and after Remal.
“We are ready to set up two more temporary radio stations, if required. We will also establish liaison with our counterpart in Bangladesh,” Biswas said.
The team is accompanied by Saborni Nag Biswas, who will be the first lady to work on ground amidst a severe cyclone in the state. During Amphan in May 2020, the Sagar Islands witnessed massive disruption in communication. It was the ham radio operator who had chipped in to establish communication.