Cyclone Yaas: West Bengal Govt To Evacuate 10 Lakh People From Coastal Areas

Kolkata: Like Odisha, West Bengal is leaving no stone unturned to tackle the fury Cyclone Yaas is expected to unleash this week.

The state government has set up 24×7 control rooms at Nabanna, the state secretariat, and its annexe administrative building Upanna, with chief minister Mamata Banerjee herself monitoring the situation.

She said that Met some experts feel that Yaas could turn out to be more dangerous than last year’s super cyclone Amphan, but advised people not to panic and just follow instruction of officials.

“We plan to evacuate 10 lakh people from the low-lying coastal areas into cyclone shelter homes. 4,000 such shelters are already available since Cyclone Amphan last year. I would urge all those staying in temporary homes to please cooperate with the administration and move into cyclone centres,” she appealed during her interaction with the media on Monday.

Urging fishermen not to venture into the sea for next 72 hours, as the state remains on high alert, the Bengal CM said that 20 districts in the state will be severely affected by Yaas, which is expected to make landfall in the form of an extremely severe cyclone around Wednesday noon between Odisha’s Balasore and Digha in West Bengal.

The state government has formed 51 disaster relief teams, with special focus on COVID-19 hospitals and centres to ensure steady supply of oxygen and medicines.

The NDRF has deployed 35 teams in Howrah, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur districts. Four columns of Army has been requested to be on standby.