Police have asked the Calcutta Municipal Corporation to remove all the big hoardings from the city skyline and clean the roads of abandoned or loose construction materials that may act as missiles when Cyclone Yaas would make landfall.
The civic body is expected to start the exercise from Sunday, police said.
Representatives of Calcutta police, CMC, West Bengal fire and emergency services and CESC will participate in a coordination meeting at Lalbazar on Sunday morning to discuss post-cyclone problems and ways to tackle them. “Learning from Amphan would be the primary focus of the meeting,” said an officer.
A separate police team has been formed under the leadership of an officer of the rank of additional commissioner in Lalbazar to coordinate the units of the city police that will contribute to the cyclone management as well as to liaise with the other agencies.
As a preparatory measure, all police stations and traffic guards have been asked to keep their stock of equipment ready. “… our units have been asked to remain as prepared as possible so that they themselves can start removing branches in case there is a delay in others (other agencies) reaching (the spot),” said an IPS officer.
Although the disaster management group will be on a standby mode during or after the cyclone, an alert has been sounded across all the police units to remain prepared.
Last year, more than two dozen trees were uprooted across the city, blocking thoroughfares, snapping overhead cables that had plunged pockets of the city into darkness for days.
As a precautionary measure, the CMC started trimming big trees keeping the approaching cyclone in mind. “We are focusing on pruning of trees, keeping generators ready at booster plants and water treatment plants,” said a CMC official.
The civic body held a meeting on their preparedness in which chairperson of the board of administrators Firhad Hakim, participated through virtual medium.
The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, too, has readied teams that will be deployed across the 41 wards, an official said on Saturday.
The teams will be equipped with cutting tools, including power saws and trucks, for cutting and removing uprooted trees, the official added.
A control room will be set up at Poura Bhavan - the BMC headquarters at FD block in Salt Lake to monitor the developments.
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