E-Paper
‘Centre discriminating with funds for Yaas cyclone, depriving Bengal’: Mamata Banerjee
Very severe cyclone ‘Yaas’ is expected to cross the Odisha-West Bengal coast, close to Balasore in Odisha, around Wednesday noon.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged that the Centre was depriving the state by allocating insufficient funds to fight cyclone Yaas compared to what was being allocated to Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
“They have announced an advance fund of ₹600 crore each to Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and a little more than ₹400 for West Bengal. I have questioned why Bengal was being deprived despite being a larger state with a dense population. I asked Shah why this discrimination. He said that he would talk later and that that allocation was based on scientific views,” said Banerjee.
She said that at least 20 districts in West Bengal, including Kalimpong and Darjeeling in the north, could be affected even though the three coastal districts – South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore - along with Kolkata would bear the direct brunt.
“Evacuation has already started and we plan to evacuate at least 10 lakh people. Around 4,000 cyclone and relief shelters have been set up. At least 51 rescue teams have been deployed. A 24X7 control room has been set up at the state secretariat which would coordinate up to block level,” the chief minister said, adding that the army has been alerted.
The chief minister urged people to wear masks even at relief centres as Covid-19 was taking a heavy toll in the state. On Sunday the state recorded more than 18,000 new cases. At least 156 people had died on Sunday.
“This time we have set up safe homes and quarantine centres where suspected and patients detected with Covid after RAT could be shifted,” said a senior official of North 24 Parganas who is associated with the evacuation process ahead of the cyclone.
Very severe cyclone ‘Yaas’ is expected to cross the Odisha-West Bengal coast, close to Balasore in Odisha, around Wednesday noon, Union home minister Amit Shah held a virtual meeting on Monday morning with the three states to assess the preparedness.
In May 2020, Bengal was hit by another very severe cyclone Amphan with similar intensity killing 98 people and damaging property worth a few thousand crores.
“Very severe cyclone Yaas is expected to cross the Odisha-Wes Bengal coast between Paradip and Sagar close to Balasore in Odisha on Wednesday noon. It would move towards Jharkhand,” said Sanjib Bandopadhyay, deputy director of the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) regional office in Kolkata.
During the time of landfall, the cyclone would trigger wind with speed up to 155 – 165 kmph gusting up to 185 kmph in the district of East Midnapore, located along the West Bengal – Odisha border. In Kolkata, the wind speed may reach up to 70 – 80 kmph gusting up to 90 kmph,
Light to moderate rainfall has already begun in the coastal districts of West Bengal. The spread and intensity of the rain would increase from Tuesday with some districts likely to receive heavy to very heavy rain. On May 27 even Sikkim may receive heavy rain.
“Hospitals have been asked to keep power backup and oxygen storage at least for two days,” said a senior health official.
Around 1,000 power-restoration teams and 450 telecom restoration teams have been readied. Boat movements have been suspended and railway authorities have been asked to cancel some trains.
Officials said that that it would be hard to reach some of the islands on Tuesday as the sea and river conditions would turn rough when the cyclone comes nearer to the coast, evacuation has been launched on Monday.
“While around 1200 – 1500 people living along the banks of Ghoramara Island were being shifted to relief shelters on the mainland, others were shifted to cyclone shelters built on higher and safer grounds within the island itself,” said a senior official of South 24 Parganas.
In some blocks in the Sunderban, pregnant women, particularly those who have their estimated date of delivery in the next one or two weeks, have also been evacuated and shifted to hospitals and ‘mother hubs’.
“As the cyclone would be hitting when the water level is already high because of the Spring Tide phase, we are expecting a storm surge of 2 – 4 meres in East Midnapore and 1 – 2 metres in North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas,” said a weather department official.
