Kolkata: The Met department on Monday said that the cyclone Yaas has been transformed into a very severe cyclonic storm and will make its landfall near Odisha’s Balasore crossing Sagar Island in West Bengal on Wednesday afternoon.
“Due to the severe cyclone Yaas East Midnapore and parts of South 24 parganas will be mostly affected and gale wind-speed would be 155-185 kmph. After the landfall the cyclone will be directed towards Jharkhand,” said IMD director (East Zone) Sanjib Bandhopadhyay also adding that Kolkata and the adjoining areas will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall with wind-speed going up to 80-90 kmph and also that after May 27 the impact of rain will gradually go down.
The weatherman also added that the impact of Yaas is likely to be less powerful than last year’s super cyclone Amphan but entire Gangetic West Bengal will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with her cabinet ministers after a virtual meeting with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Slamming the Union Home Minister, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that Shah promised rupees 600 crore relief to Odisha and Andhra Pradesh but only 400 rupees is allotted for West Bengal.
“Despite partiality of the Central Government, the West Bengal government has set up 4000 cyclone relief centres and 51 disaster management teams that will monitor and tackle the situation round the clock. We have targeted the evacuation of 10 lakh people, especially in East Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas,” Mamata said.
The West Bengal Chief Minister also urged the people to shift to the school buildings or flood shelters as arranged by the state administration. She also warned fishermen to stay away from sea and listen to the administration.
Alerting the West Bengal Health Department, the chief minister said post cyclone several health challenges are a big concern especially during the pandemic and urged the health department to stay equipped with medicines for diarrhea and for other diseases.
“Apart from Yaas we have also made a committee to implement Duare Ration (ration at doorstep) and Student credit card at the earliest in West Bengal,” added Mamata.
Meanwhile, the CESC officials have kept over 2500 volunteers who will be operating on field and following complaints by it will be addressed at the earliest.
Talking to Free Press Journal, Sushmita Mukherjee, All India General Secretary of Human Rights Commission said that the Human Rights Commission also evacuated several people of the coastal area to concrete buildings and have also ensured three meals each day.
“Unlike last year post Amphan we have helped people to rebuild their houses and also helped them with other facilities to get back to normal life, this time though it is said that the cyclone will be less severe than Amphan but even then we are prepared to support people with all that they need post cyclone,” mentioned Sushmita.
However, since Monday Morning Kolkata and its adjoining Howrah, Hooghly and North 24 Parganas witnessed scattered rainfall and till the time of reporting the severe cyclone Yaas remains 610 km away from Sagar Island.
