With the landfall of Cyclone Yaas commencing on Wednesday morning, extensive damage to embankments and flooding in low-lying areas of West Bengal was reported.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that damage to embankments had been reported at 15 places in South 24 Parganas district and 51 places in Purba Medinipur district. She said that the rise of water due to twin impacts of cyclone and full moon tide was behind the breach of embankments.
Large parts of Digha town in Purba Medinipur district was submerged. In South 24 Parganas, breaches to embankments were reported at Namkhana, Kulpi, Basanti, Sandeshkhali and Frasergunj. At Gosaba in the district, the river water breached embankments and entered villages.
Ms. Banerjee said that 11 lakh people had been rescued, including 3.88 lakh people in Purba Medinipur alone. Damage to houses and uprooting of trees had also been reported. The Chief Minister along with senior officials of the State government had spent the night at the State Secretariat monitoring the situation.
The landfall which commenced at 9.15 a.m. south of Balasore would continue for three hours, Sanjib Bandyophyay, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata, said.
Seventeen columns of Army have been deployed in 10 districts and six teams of Army have been kept in standby in Kolkata. The Kolkata Airport has suspended flights from 8.30 a.m. to 5.45 p.m. on Wednesday. The Calcutta High Court will not hear cases on Wednesday and Thursday owing to the impact of the cyclone.
More than 35 teams of National Disaster Response Force and 51 teams of State Disaster Response Force have been deployed. About 1,000 teams for the restoration of power and 450 teams for telecom services have been kept ready.
Published - May 26, 2021 11:00 am IST
