NEW DELHI: Four additional teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are being airlifted to Kolkata on the request of the West Bengal government for the restoration work in the aftermath of super cyclone "Amphan" and will reach the city by late evening on Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, the chief of the force, SN Pradhan, said on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference here, Pradhan said a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) under the cabinet secretary took place on Thursday to assess the impact of the cyclone and requirements of the states that have been battered by it.
The meeting was also attended by the chief secretaries of Odisha and West Bengal. The Odisha government informed that life would start coming back to normal in the affected areas within 24-48 hours as 90 per cent of power and telecom connectivity has been restored. "Over 2.5 lakh people were evacuated in Odisha. These people have started returning to their homes as the weather has cleared," Pradhan said.
From the preliminary input received from the West Bengal government, it seems that impact of the cyclone has been significant in the state, he added. Pradhan said that the West Bengal chief secretary asked for four additional NDRF teams to be deployed for the restoration work and the Centre agreed to it immediately.
He added that two NDRF teams each from Chennai and Pune are being airlifted to Kolkata on IAF aircraft and they will be at the disposal of the state government. The NDRF has already deployed 21 teams in West Bengal. "These teams may be used in urban restoration work in Kolkata or as per the wishes of the state government," Pradhan said.
He added that the teams were scheduled to depart at 4:30 pm and arrive at Kolkata at around 8:30 pm. "We had started deployment four days before the cyclone was expected to make landfall after an accurate input about its path and severity from the India Meteorological Department," Pradhan said.
He added that over five lakh people were evacuated and kept in shelter homes in West Bengal. "They have been asked to continue to stay in these camps as their homes might have been damaged and restoration may take some time," Pradhan said.
He said the NDRF will continue to serve the states for as long as they want. "It seems we can start withdrawing deployment in Odisha soon, while it may take some time in West Bengal," the NDRF chief said.
He added that the Union Home Ministry would send a team to assess the extent of the damage on the ground to decide on fund allocations to the states. However, this was not discussed during the NCMC meeting, Pradhan said.
On a question on the damage to the Kolkata airport, he said according to inputs from the Civil Aviation Ministry, it would have become operational in the afternoon. "The IAF aircraft bringing our teams will land at the airport in the evening," Pradhan said.