Cyclone Yaas: West Bengal government ready special teams, control rooms

KOLKATA: Taking a cue from the devastating effects of cyclone Amphan that had hit Bengal exactly a year ago, the state government, civic agencies and police are chalking out plans to combat the effects of Yaas, which is predicted to make a landfall on the morning of May 26.
Kolkata Police plans to deploy 22 teams of disaster management groups (DMG)s to clear trees from roads and power lines in case they are uprooted. Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) have also set up teams of trained personnel from essential services department to carry out emergency repair and restoration work. All the government agencies would coordinate in every possible way to combat the effects of the cyclone, said an offical at Nabanna.

Each DMG team will comprise five personnel, all trained in handling disaster. Police stations have been asked to hire temporary tree-cutters, especially those who played a crucial role post-Amphan to clear their wards a year ago. KMC has also formed borough-wise teams to cut and remove uprooted trees from thoroughfares. Taking a lesson from last time, the civic body has decided to equip its team with hydraulic ladders so that they can cut and remove full-grown trees that might lean against apartments, endangering the lives of the residents. The civic brass have instructed the drainage department officials to keep all heavy-duty pumps ready at pumping stations to flush out stormwater from flooded streets. This apart, a special control room at the KMC headquarters will function 24×7 so that essential services to citizens are not interrupted. A special disaster management team will be stationed at the headquarters. The civic body may set up shelters for residents of low-lying areas, especially areas in the port division and off EM Bypass, which might go under water if it pours heavily.
CESC, too, will deploy two repair teams of seven to eight men in each ward, or 288 teams across Kolkata, to carry out repair and restoration should power lines be snapped in the storm. To prevent electrocution, power might be temporarily disconnected if high velocity winds struck the city, an official said. During Amphan, five persons had been electrocuted in Behala.
Both KMC and BMC have formed quick response teams for every ward, each comprising trained civic officials and workers from essential departments. The BMC is also opening a control room at its head office.
Kolkata Police is also roping in a team of HAM radio operators from the West Bengal Radio Club (Amateur Club) to assist the police’s disaster management team in relief and rescue work as it might be required in areas, where mobile network might not work.
KMDA is conducting checks on flyovers and bridges to avert any disaster.