Kolkata: The landfall of severe cyclonic storm ‘Remal’ commenced on Sunday evening between Bengal and Bangladesh coasts with an intensity of 110 to 120 kmph, gusting to 135 kmph, the MeT office said.
The landfall process of Remal, with its centre about 30 km from the coastline at 8.30 pm, will continue for about four hours, it said.
“The landfall process of severe cyclonic storm ‘Remal’ commenced over the adjacent coasts of Bengal and Bangladesh between Sagar Island and Khepupara close to the southwest of Mongla in the neighbouring country,” the MeT said.
Gale wind speed reaching 110 to 120 kmph, gusting to 135 kmph, was prevailing along and off Bengal and Bangladesh coasts and north Bay of Bengal and is likely to continue for the next six hours and decrease thereafter, the MeT added. In view of the cyclone, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee posted on X: “Stay home and stay safe. We are there for you, today and always. This storm shall pass too.”
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast moderate rainfall at most places over the districts of South Bengal on Monday as well. For Sunday, a red warning was issued for districts like North and South 24-Parganas, East Midnapore, Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly district. For districts like West Midnapore, Nadia and East Burdwan, the forecasters issued orange warning and yellow warning for all districts.
For Monday, the red warning was issued for Nadia and Murshidabad districts which may experience heavy (7-11 centimetre) to very heavy rain (12-20 centimetre). While for other districts like Birbhum, East Burdwan, Hooghly, North and South 24-Parganas, Kolkata and Howrah districts orange warning was issued with a prediction of heavy to very heavy rain. The weather office has issued a yellow warning for all other districts.
The surface wind with speed reaching 60 to 70 kmph gusting to 80 kmph is likely over Nadia and Murshidabad on Monday. Similarly, over North and South 24-Parganas, Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Birbhum, East Burdwan, it may reach 50 to 60 kmph gusting to 70 kmph, and for other districts it may reach 40 to 50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph. Gale wind speed reaching 60-70 kmph gusting to 80 kmph prevailed along and off the West Bengal coast. It is likely to increase from 100-120 kmph gusting to 135 kmph from Sunday evening to Monday morning.
As part of precautionary measures to combat the impending impact of severe cyclone ‘Remal’, the state government is learnt to have evacuated approximately 1.10 lakh people from coastal regions, including the Sunderbans and Sagar Island, to secure shelters. As many as 16 battalions each from the state disaster management and NDRF have been deployed in the coastal areas, enhancing rescue and relief operations. The state government distributed approximately 5.40 lakh tarpaulins and ensured the availability of dry rations, powdered milk, and drinking water pouches across these districts, ensuring preparedness for the impending crisis. The Indian Navy readied two ships equipped with humanitarian assistance and disaster Relief and medical supplies for immediate deployment. Indian Naval aviation assets, including Sea King and Chetak helicopters as well as Dornier aircrafts, were kept on standby for rapid response.
Specialised diving teams with equipment were stationed in Kolkata for assistance. Two Flood Relief Teams (FRTs), along with HADR and medical supplies, were positioned in Kolkata.
Meanwhile, Metro Railway ran truncated services on both Up and Down directions in between Dakshineswar and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar stations of Blue line on Sunday considering passenger safety during the inclement weather. Eastern Railway opened Helpline numbers at Howrah and Sealdah station on Sunday. They have already implemented various safety measures and activated the disaster management team to deal with the consequences of the cyclone. The emergency helpline numbers at Howrah and Sealdah are 033-26413660 and 23508794, respectively.
Sealdah Division has deployed special medical teams at stations likely to be severely affected like Hasnabad, Lakshmikantapur, Canning, Diamond Harbour and Namkhana. All the dedicated medical teams at respective stations will be equipped with doctor, paramedical staff, nursing assistant and adequate life saving medicines. The emergency medical camp will be headed by another watchdog medical team at B.R.Singh Hospital at Sealdah.
As many as 48 EMU’s under Sealdah Division were cancelled on Sunday and Monday. South Eastern Railway had also cancelled long distance trains for passenger safety. A total of 394 flights — both international and domestic — will not be operational during the flight suspension period.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) took preparatory measures to deal with cyclone impact in the city. Both the civic bodies made their control rooms functional 24x7. KMC kept 350 drainage pumps functional while 186 portable pumps were also kept on standby. The civic body activated several teams in the city’s water pockets for quick response, besides keeping machinery ready in case uprooted trees are to be cleared from the roads.
Kolkata Police has directed officers in-charge (OC) of all the police stations and traffic guards to stay at their offices and jurisdiction and evaluate the damages after the storm ends. It was decided that during the storm all the flyovers in the city will be closed for vehicular traffic. Ghats located on the bank of the river Hooghly were cordoned off using barricades and guard rails to prevent people from going there. The divisional Deputy Commissioners (DC) were asked to patrol their respective areas before and after the cyclone hits.
Governor C V Ananda Bose called an emergency review meeting on Cyclone ‘Remal’. Raj Bhavan set up a task force to assist the public. Raj Bhavan sources said medical facilities will be available throughout the night and beyond if need be. Two ambulances were kept ready. An eight-member emergency medical task force was constituted.