Mamata assesses cyclone Remal: 2 dead, 24 blocks hit, 15K houses damaged
Nearly 15,000 houses in 24 blocks and 79 municipal wards, mostly in the southern coastal areas of West Bengal, were affected by Cyclone Remal, a senior official of the state government said on Monday.
At least 2,140 trees were uprooted in different parts of the state which also witnessed the falling of 337 electric poles, he added.
According to the initial evaluation, at least 14,941 houses were damaged, out of which 13,938 were partially affected while 1,003 were destroyed, he said.
"The figures will probably increase after another round of evaluation. Our officials in the districts are working and the process of evaluation is still on. The estimation of the damage is being calculated," the official told PTI.
The administration had shifted 2,07,060 people to the 1,438 safe shelters, he said, adding that at the moment there are 77,288 people.
"341 gruel kitchens are being operated at the moment. We have distributed 17,738 tarpaulins to the affected people in the coastal and low-lying areas," he said.
The affected areas included Kakdwip, Namkhana, Sagard Island, Diamond Harbour, Fraserganj, Bakkhali and Mandarmani.
At least two persons were killed in West Bengal and its coastal areas suffered extensive damage to infrastructure and property, as Cyclone Remal tore through the state and neighbouring Bangladesh with wind speeds reaching 135 km per hour, officials said.
At least two persons died in West Bengal and its coastal areas suffered extensive damage to infrastructure and property, as Cyclone Remal tore through the state and neighbouring Bangladesh with wind speeds reaching 135 km per hour, officials said Monday.
A man died of his injuries when a wall collapsed due to the relentless downpour on Sunday evening at the Bibir Bagan area of Entally in Central Kolkata, a state disaster management official said.
An elderly woman in the Mousuni Island near Namkhana adjacent to the Sunderbans delta also succumbed to injuries on Monday morning, following a tree collapsed on her hut that resulted in the roof caving in, the official said.
After tearing through the coasts of Bangladesh and West Bengal, Cyclone Remal left a trail of destruction with pictures of devastation becoming evident across the state’s coastal areas, with extensive damage to infrastructure and property, soon after daybreak on Monday.
Roofs of thatched huts were blown away, uprooted trees blocked roads in Kolkata as well as in the coastal districts, and electricity poles were knocked down causing significant power disruption in various parts of the state, including in the city’s outskirts, the officials said.
While several pockets of Kolkata remained waterlogged on the morning of the first working day of the week, suburban train services from the Sealdah terminal station remained partially suspended for at least three hours, adding to commuters’ woes, before operations limped back to normal.
Flight services at the Kolkata airport resumed on Monday morning after remaining suspended for 21 hours given Cyclone Remal. Airport sources, however, said it will take some more time for the situation to become normal.
The cyclone ravaged adjacent coasts of the state and Bangladesh between Sagar Island and Khepupara, near the southwest of Mongla in the neighbouring country, after its landfall process began at 8.30 pm on Sunday and lasted for a good four hours.
In a later update, the Met office said ‘Remal’ weakened into a cyclonic storm at 5:30 am on Monday, about 70 km northeast of Canning and 30 km west-southwest of Mongla. The system is likely to gradually weaken further.
Efforts to restore normalcy are underway, with emergency services working to clear debris and restore power in the affected areas.
However, the relentless heavy rain is hampering these operations in most of the affected areas, the officials said.
The state government has initiated relief operations, providing food, drinking water and medical assistance to the people affected.
The authorities have urged residents to remain indoors and take necessary precautions till the heavy rain persists.
Kolkata recorded a rainfall of 146 mm in the period between 8.30 am on Sunday and 5.30 am on Monday, the weatherman said.
The metropolis logged a maximum wind speed of 74 mph, while Dum Dum on the northern outskirts of the city recorded a maximum wind speed of 91 mph, the weather office said.
Several areas of Kolkata remained waterlogged, compounding the misery of the affected residents. Streets in significant pockets of Ballygunge, Park Circus, Dhakuria and Alipore in South Kolkata, Behala in the West and College Street, Thanthania Kali Bari, CR Avenue and Sinthi in the North remained inundated till late in the day.
Reports indicated that trees were uprooted in several areas, including Southern Avenue, Lake Place, Chetla, D L Khan Road, Dufferin Road, Ballygunge Road, New Alipore, Behala, Jadavpur, Golpark, Hatibagan, Jagat Mukherjee Park, College Street, and the adjoining Salt Lake area.
Around 68 trees were uprooted in Kolkata, with an additional 75 trees downed in the nearby Salt Lake and Rajarhat areas.
The cyclone caused rainfall with strong winds in areas such as Digha, Kakdwip and Jaynagar, which intensified on Monday morning.
Other places in south Bengal which received heavy rainfall during the period are Haldia (110 mm), Tamluk (70 mm) and Nimpith (70 mm), the Met office said.
The storm and accompanying heavy rain flooded homes and farmlands. In some regions, salt water from the adjoining Bay of Bengal breached embankments and gushed into farmlands, damaging crops.
The West Bengal government evacuated more than one lakh people from vulnerable areas ahead of the cyclone's landfall.
The North and South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts reported widespread damage. News footage from the coastal resort town of Digha showed tidal waves crashing into a seawall, with surging waters sweeping fishing boats inland and inundating mud-and-thatch houses and farmlands.
The weatherman has forecast more rain in Kolkata and the southern districts including Nadia and Murshidabad, with one or two spells of intense downpours, along with gusty surface winds till Tuesday morning.
State Power Minister Aroop Biswas said the disruptions and damage to the power supply infrastructure caused by Cyclone Remal will be addressed soon.
He noted that there had been one or two incidents of power outages in the CESC area, due to fallen trees.
A total of 14 National Disaster Response Force teams were deployed for relief and restoration work across districts in south Bengal, including Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly.
Relief materials, including dry food and tarpaulins, have been dispatched to the coastal areas and quick response teams comprising trained civil defence volunteers and equipped vehicles are in place, the officials said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed deep concern over the impact of Cyclone Remal in Sundarbans and other coastal areas of the state as she took stock of the situation, an official said.
She spoke with Chief Secretary B P Gopalika to assess the extent of devastation caused by the cyclone and the measures being taken to address the aftermath.
"The CM spoke to the chief secretary over the phone and enquired about the number of lives lost and injured as a result of Cyclone Remal. She also enquired about the extent of damage, including uprooted electric poles and trees, and the progress of restoration efforts," the official told PTI.
Two people – one in Kolkata and another in Mousuni Island in South 24 Parganas district – lost their lives in separate incidents attributed to the cyclone.
The state government has decided to provide compensation to the next of kin of the deceased by the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the official added.
The coastal areas of West Bengal suffered extensive damage to infrastructure and property, as Cyclone Remal tore through the state and neighbouring Bangladesh with wind speeds reaching 135 km per hour, officials said.
