As heavy rain and gusty winds persist in Kolkata following the landfall of severe cyclonic storm ‘Remal’, teams from the Kolkata Municipality and Kolkata Police Disaster Management are actively involved in clearing uprooted trees in the Alipore area.
Late-night visuals depict workers striving to clear roads amidst ongoing rainfall. Priyabrata Roy, DC South Kolkata, assured, “We are receiving reports of uprooted trees in some areas. Kolkata Municipality and Kolkata Police Disaster Management teams have been deployed, and work is underway. The uprooted trees will be promptly cut and cleared to restore road accessibility. We anticipate the situation to improve by morning. The Police’s special unified control room is vigilantly monitoring the situation throughout the night, given the cyclone’s impact. The Municipality Control Room is also operational.”
The landfall process commenced at 8:30 pm on Sunday over the adjacent coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh, causing devastation with wind speeds of 110 to 120 kmph, gusting up to 135 kmph. Visuals from outside the Raj Bhavan depict heavy rains and strong winds battering the capital city.
Somnath Dutta, Eastern Region Head of IMD Kolkata, stated, “The landfall process began at 8:30 pm over the Bangladesh and West Bengal coast. Based on observations at 10:30 pm, the landfall process is ongoing and expected to conclude by 12:30 am.”
In preparation for the impending landfall, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to assess the cyclone’s preparedness over the North Bay of Bengal. The Prime Minister was briefed on the National Crisis Management Committee’s coordination with the Government of West Bengal. Fishermen were advised against venturing into the South Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea for safety reasons.