Kolkata: Civic agencies in and around Kolkata worked through Sunday to take guard against cyclone Remal, which made landfall late on Sunday evening.
More than 14,000 KMC workers were deployed across the 144 wards to combat disruptions and all lock gates to the Hooghly were shut to prevent possible flooding triggered by an active high tide, said Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim.
Taking a lesson from the devastating effects of Amphan, KMC has kept tree cutters, dumpers, payloaders and heavy-duty cranes ready to remove uprooted trees, said Hakim, appealing to residents of insecure buildings to take refuge at the camps set up in several KMC primary schools. The mayor made it clear that though KMC was ready with hundreds of heavy-duty pumps to flush out storm water, in the event of continuous downpour, it may take time to free the city of waterlogging.
While the sewerage and drainage department officials checked the conditions of drainage pumping stations, KMC’s parks department officials set up teams of tree cutters and deployed them at vulnerable points across 16 boroughs. On Sunday, civic workers removed 15 trees that were uprooted across the city. The buildings department has formed teams to keep vigil on the highly insecure buildings that might collapse due to heavy rain. The lighting and electricity department, in association with CESC, has been identifying and repairing loose wires around feeder boxes of street lamp posts to prevent electrocution if streets get flooded.
The drainage department officials are worried about a high tide in the Hooghly. According to a KMC source, the civic body on Sunday decided to close all lock gates along the Hooghly from 1.30 pm to 6 pm due to the presence of a 16.28-ft high tide.
“We will also need to close the lock gates in the morning and afternoon on Monday for the same reason. We fear if heavy rain lashes Kolkata, several areas will go under water for long hours as the lock gates will remain closed,” said a KMC official.
Areas like the Garden Reach-Metiabruz belt, Behala, Garia, and neighbourhoods off Bypass, which don’t have an underground drainage system, could get inundated easily after a downpour. “We are keeping portable pumps ready,” said an official.
In Salt Lake, New Town and Sector V, Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (B-MC), New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NK-DA) and Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) opened control rooms with disaster management teams ready.
NKDA issued an advisory for housing societies and residents’ welfare associations to check that roofs, terraces and balconies were clear of loose items. Residents were advised to keep vehicles inside the parking bay and builders and developers were asked to secure loose materials at construction sites with proper net covers. NKDA also supplied drinking water for an extended period on Sunday, apprehending a possible disruption on Monday. The authorities kept additional pumps on standby to drain out excess storm water from the streets and a team of civil defence volunteers was deployed from Saturday morning.
BMC also issued an advisory for residents of Salt Lake and Rajarhat Gopalpur to remove flower pots and iron items from the railings on roofs and balconies, fill up water tanks and keep mobiles charged. BMC has kept a team ready to remove uprooted trees and street poles.
The urban development and municipal affairs department set up a control room and issued guidelines for all civic bodies. All fire stations across districts are on alert and divisional fire officers were in touch with CESC, state electricity board and disaster management authorities to act in emergency situations.