With cyclonic storm Dana expected to make landfall later tonight, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is staying at the state secretariat, Nabanna, the whole night to monitor the unfolding situation from the control room there. Miss Banerjee disclosed this at a press conference at Nabanna today. She said: “The state government has identified a total of 3,56,941 individuals residing around vulnerable low-lying areas.
A total of 1,55,337 individuals have voluntarily shifted to safer places. A total of 83,547 individuals have already been shifted to the temporary relief camps.” She added that a total of 859 relief camps have been made operational. Miss Banerjee said that a round-the-clock helpline has been set up at Nabanna and the districts as well. The chief minister said people can call up 033-2214-3526, the Nabanna helpline number, and emergency number 1070 for any exigencies but advised them to desist from making any call that could spread misinformation.
“Just as there is no reason to panic unnecessarily, there is also no reason to be over complacent that Cyclone Dana’s landfall will happen in neighbouring Odisha and not in West Bengal. To me human life is most important and the primary task of the administration is to protect human lives. I have decided to stay back at Nabanna on Thursday and monitor the entire situation,” the Chief Minister said. Chief secretary Manoj Pant too would monitor the situation from his residence and would coordinate with other officials in the morning, Miss Banerjee said.
While observing that the sewerage system in Kolkata had seen a large-scale improvement in the last few years, she said officials in the districts have been asked to keep a close watch on the possiblity of water-logging due to overflow of drains clogged by sand, plastic and other substances. Criticising the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), Miss Banerjee said: “I heard that they have released 24,000 cusecs of water again. Had they done the dredging properly, their water-holding capacities could have been more.”