State to soon come up with a temporary ham radio station at Mousuni Islands

Kolkata: The state government has set the ball rolling for setting up a temporary ham radio station at Mousuni Island under Namkhana block in South 24-Parganas considering its vulnerability to frequent cyclonic weather conditions as well as major natural disasters.

The district administration with the assistance of ham radio enthusiasts are using a trial and error method for identification of the areas where there is availability of good signal and the area having the best of signal will have such a radio station.

“Whenever there is a natural calamity, the normal communication system goes haywire and so the district administration can’t establish contact with the local administration in different remote islands of the Sundarbans, including Mousuni Islands where transportation is a major challenge and waterways being the only option.

The temporary ham radio station will come in handy during such a disaster as the district administration will be able to know what sort of assistance in terms of relief is required for the people there.

“We are already getting satisfactory results in this signal aspect and we are hopeful that we will be able to soon identify the most suitable place and set up a temporary station. Once we have done this, we will gradually proceed to set up a permanent one,” Rupam Dutta, Block Disaster Management Officer, Namkhana said.

The state Disaster Management department joined hands with the West Bengal Radio Club and Indian Academy of Communication and Disaster Management and hosted a two-day demonstration regarding setting up of radio station, placing of the antennae for proper communication, the harnessing of solar power in the establishment of communication and other nitty gritties for the local residents of Mousuni Island last weekend.

“Students from local schools and colleges as well as common people participated in the training realising the fact that they are the first responders to any sort of natural calamity,” Ambarish Nag Biswas, general secretary of West Bengal Radio Club said.

Dibas Mondal and Dipak Chakraborty who have a fair knowledge of working in the islands of the Sundarbans during natural calamities took an active part in the event.

As many as 45 civil defence volunteers of South and North 24-Parganas district have already received ham radio licences and permanent ham radio stations have already come up in Gangasagar and Gosaba. They also joined the hands-on training at Mousuni Island on Saturday and Sunday.