Death And Destruction In West Bengal In The Wake Of Cyclone Amphan
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-05-21 18:23:35
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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The West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was spot on when she said that Cyclone Amphan had caused total destruction (sorbonash was the Bengali word she used). With wind speeds touching 160 to 180 kmph, it was merciless and monstrous (as The Telegraph aptly described it). The howling noise made by the wind could have scared the wits out of anyone, even with closed windows in posh apartments. The rain was relentless and pounding. Starting from 4 pm in East Medinipur district which has the tourist spots Digha and Mandarmani and touching Kolkata at around 5.30 pm, the cyclone left destruction, water-logging, uprooted trees, broken electric poles, crashed hoardings and fallen buildings. 72 people died, thousands were injured and lakhs were rendered homeless. West Bengal has not witnessed Nature’s fury at this scale in decades.
After the fury died down, Kolkata saw fallen trees across major thoroughfares, electricity disconnected in the two districts (north and south 24 Paraganas)at the periphery of the city, some old buildings came crumbling down, hoardings fell and residents not able to come out of their complexes because fallen trees had blocked the entrances. Some trees and poles fell on parked cars and other vehicles. At some places, the wind speed caused cars parked in a line to jump up and crash against each other. Trees were seen swaying dangerously. Fortunately, the state government had evacuated a huge number of people and consequently the loss of lives was minimal. But a large number of families have been cut off from the rest of the world as there is no electricity, mobile phone batteries have died, cable television is not working and broadband internet is down in most places.
The NDRF teams have swung into action along with the state teams to provide rescue and restoration services. West Bengal government has announced a sum of Rs 2 lakhs to be paid to the next of kin of all those who lost their lives. Mamata Banerjee has urged PM Modi to visit the cyclone-affected areas and help the state. The maximum damage has been caused in the Sundarbans and East Medinipur districts where standing crops have been destroyed, roofs of houses blown away and scores have lost their lives. It will be months before things will be normal again. In the meantime, the Centre must assess the damage and announce an appropriate relief package so that the state government can conduct the relief and restoration operations at full swing and without delay.
