KOLKATA/ NEW DELHI : Three days after cyclone Amphan battered West Bengal, the state government on Saturday called for Army support to speed up restoration process of essential infrastructure and services. The state home department requested railways, port and private sectors to supply teams for the rebuild Bengal mission. The death toll went up to 86 on Saturday.Army personnel from Eastern Command’s Fort William swung into action on Saturday evening and joined the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to remove uprooted trees from arterial thoroughfares in Kolkata. Meanwhile, ten fresh teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are being rushed to West Bengal in order to speed up the relief and rescue operations , officials said.
“Ten additional teams have been mobilised and are being rushed at the earliest from NDRF locations outside West Bengal. Teams are likely to reach Kolkata by late night Saturday,” an NDRF spokesperson said.They said the additional teams of the federal contingency force were sent after a written request was received by the Union Home Ministry from West Bengal’s Principal Secretary Disaster Management and Civil Defence seeking deployment of additional teams in the state.
A total of 26 NDRF teams are deployed in six cyclone affected districts of West Bengal for restoration work at present and with the addition of the fresh ones the total number of teams will be 36.Preliminary assessment by the state government assessed the extent of damage by cyclone Amphan in South 24-Parganas, the most severely-hit district in the state. “The cyclone damaged more than 10 lakh houses, uprooted 41,000 electric poles, swept away 56-km river dam and affected more than six crore people,” said CM Mamata Banerjee.
Banerjee undertook aerial survey of the affected areas in South 24-Parganas district on Saturday and held an administrative meeting at Kakdwip. “Bengal has never faced such disaster before. I have asked to engage local men in the restoration work and pay them under the 100-day job scheme,” she said.The home department said drinking water and drainage infrastructure are getting restored fast. Public Health Department have been asked to supply water pouches in affected areas. “Generators are being hired where necessary,” the home department tweeted.