Bengal braced for Cyclone Remal, with Amphan lessons; PM chairs meeting

Gangetic West Bengal braced for the impact of Cyclone Remal, which intensified into a severe cyclonic storm, threatening widespread disruption in public life. Till the time of going to press, the cyclone had not made landfall, but flights were cancelled through the day and cargo movements were put on hold.

In an all hands-on-deck approach, the West Bengal government set up a 24X7 control room at Nabanna, the state secretariat, to coordinate with different disaster management teams. The Kolkata Police set up a unified command centre at Lalbazar headquarters. And Kolkata Mayor, Firhad Hakim, assured that Team KMC was with the people.

Not just the state government, the Centre got into action as well. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting on Sunday to review the preparedness for the high-intensity cyclone, which could make a landfall between Bangladesh and West Bengal coasts around midnight. In a media briefing, Hakim said that KMC officials would be at work through the night until the crisis over Kolkata blew over. About 15,000 workers were on the ground handling the situation. Taking a lesson from Cyclone Amphan in 2020 that ravaged the city uprooting around 5,000 trees, Hakim said, at least seven JCB cranes were kept on standby.

According to the weather office, Remal was likely to continue to move northwards, intensify further and cross Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coasts between Sagar Island and Khepupara, close to southwest of Mongla (Bangladesh) by midnight of May 26 as a severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 110-120 kmph gusting to 135 kmph.
 

In several parts of the city, the police were miking to caution against the impending cyclone. RP Sanjiv Goenka group company,

CESC, which supplies power in Kolkata and surrounding areas, also conducted miking and sent safety messages to consumers.

The company has deployed more than 5,000 workmen and officers to tackle the situation. Additional repair teams have been arranged and deployed at strategic locations. The Kolkata airport took guard in view of the "predicted heavy winds" and "heavy to very heavy rainfall" expected in Kolkata. Flight operations were shut between 12 noon on May 26 (Sunday) and 9 am on May 27 (Monday), a duration of 21 hours, due to the impact of Cyclone Remal on the coastal region of West Bengal.
 

Aviation industry sources estimated that around 325 flights were cancelled or postponed as a result of this 21-hour shutdown.

The Kolkata airport typically handles between 320-340 domestic flights and approximately 50 international flights daily, in addition to 20-30 unscheduled flights. Air India and SpiceJet said they had cancelled all their flights during the 21-hour period. Vistara stated that its flights to and from Kolkata “may” be affected due to the cyclone.

IndiGo, which accounts for about 60 per cent of daily flights at the Kolkata airport, rescheduled and cancelled “some flights” due to Cyclone Remal and the Notam (notice to airmen) issued in Kolkata. “Passengers have been informed of all changes in advance and are being provided real-time updates on social platforms. Mitigation measures have been put in place to avoid inconvenience caused to passengers due to the cyclone,” IndiGo mentioned.

According to the ministry of Railways, there was no cancellation in long distance trains in view of Cyclone Remal. A railway official said that cancellations on short-distance and local trains were being considered as of Sunday evening, and a call on disruption in train services would be taken after due assessment.
 

On Saturday, Rathendra Raman, Chairperson of Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata, reviewed the preparedness.

Apprehending poor weather conditions, the port suspended all cargo and container handling operations from 6PM May 26 until 6 am on May 27.

Cyclone Remal is facing West Bengal at a time when the general elections are in the last leg. As nine constituencies in the state go to vote on June 1, the cyclone could well become an X factor, political watchers pointed out. At a public meeting on Sunday, National General Secretary of TMC Abhishek Banerjee requested party workers to be on ground and help everyone.

“During these hard times, you will find AITC leaders on ground working day and night to help you, taking affected ones to relief camps, providing essential relief materials just like Duare Sarkar camps when TMC workers help with forms and other requirements,” he said.

(Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Deepak Patel, Dhruvaksh Saha, Ishita Ayan Dutt contributed to the story)