CM Mamata Banerjee camps at Nabanna for Cyclone Yaas combat

The storm will mainly affect East Midnapore, West Midnapore, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, Bankura, parts of Purulia, East and West Burdwan, and Birbhum

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna on Tuesday night: Telegraph picture

Arkamoy Datta Majumdar   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |   26.05.21: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she’d stay overnight at state secretariat Nabanna with the top-tier bureaucracy to keep tabs on Cyclone Yaas from a war-room of the disaster management department.

Mamata reached Nabanna around 11.45am. Around 3pm, she convened her first news meet, by when she had spoken to district magistrates of areas most likely to be affected.

“There will be rain and storm in 21 districts here…. Yaas will mainly affect East Midnapore, West Midnapore, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, Bankura, parts of Purulia, East and West Burdwan, and Birbhum,” she said.

Mamata was concerned about the high tide. “You can see a high tide, and thus the water level of the Hooghly and other rivers has also risen…. The seawater at Digha has come up to the public places….” she said.

Around 11 lakh people have been evacuated to the 4,000-odd relief shelters, she said.

For Amphan, 10 lakh had been evacuated.

This time, over 74,000 officials and workers have been deployed to tackle the situation, besides another 3 lakh personnel from the police, the army, and the national and state disaster response forces.

Mamata said one senior IAS officer has been given the responsibility of each district.

Sources said three senior IPS officers and one senior IAS officer have been deployed for East Midnapore — likely to be the worst-hit district — alone. Of the total 11 lakh evacuees, four lakh are from this coastal district. Two ministers, Akhil Giri and Somen Mahapatra, are stationed at Digha.

Mamata asked chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, home secretary H.K. Dwivedi and others in the administration to ensure that central utility DVC doesn’t release water without consent from the state government now.

Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar visited Nabanna. BJP state unit chief Dilip Ghosh, a known Mamata-baiter, even issued a statement in appreciation of the state’s efforts.“The state government was unprepared last time. This time, however, it appears to be equipped and ready. Now, it is up to them to deal with the cyclone,” he said.

Additional reporting by Anshuman Phadikar and Snehamoy Chakraborty