Police and civic bodies in Calcutta and Salt Lake took a host of measures on Sunday — from making announcements requesting residents to stay indoors to deployment of rescue teams — to try and minimise the impact of Cyclone Remal.

Quick response teams

Kolkata Police deployed 15 Disaster Management Group teams across the city, while Bidhannagar City Police put all police stations and traffic guards on alert.

Construction companies and other developers involved in projects in Calcutta were asked to remove large cranes from the sites to prevent any accident.

A senior police officer at Lalbazar said the force was on standby and working in close coordination with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), power utility services and the civil defence department.

Bidhannagar police said the police stations were equipped with saws, rods and shovels. The cops were asked to coordinate with other agencies such as the fire and emergency services department and power utilities.

The New Town and Salt Lake authorities kept bulldozers, hydraulic earthmovers, trucks and specialised teams stationed in New Town, Salt Lake, Baguiati, Rajarhat, Kaikhali and Chinar Park, among other places.

Announcements

Several police stations across Calcutta made announcements in residential neighbourhoods requesting people to stay indoors during the cyclone, not to touch any electrical wires in the open, to switch off all electrical appliances during the storm and to keep mobile phones charged.

Evacuation

About 160 residents of Ambedkar Colony on Judges Court Road in Alipore were evacuated by the KMC on Sunday evening. They were taken to Adarsh Hindi Vidyalaya, close to their quarters. Residential quarters of road cleaners working for the KMC are located at the colony.

“Some of the buildings at Ambedkar Colony are in a dilapidated condition. We have requested the residents to stay in the shelter during and after the cyclone,” said a KMC official.

No one was evacuated in Salt Lake and New Town till 8pm on Sunday.

The authorities said they had kept some school buildings ready to shift people from dilapidated buildings or tenements in Duttabad and those along VIP Road, if required. Several clubs, too, were earmarked as temporary shelters.

Officials said more than 1 lakh people were evacuated in Gosaba, Basanti, Kultali, Patharpratima, Namkhana and Sagar in South 24-Parganas.

Tree pruning

Strong winds since the afternoon broke branches of many trees.

A KMC official said till about 7pm, their teamshad gone to more than six places to remove or prune branches that were leaning dangerously.

There were separate teams in all the boroughs to remove fallen trees or branches. Teams were also present in KMC offices across the city to respond to reports of building collapse.

The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, which has 41 wards, stationed a disaster management team in each of the six boroughs. Each team included personnel trained in cutting trees and clearing roads, said an official.

The civic body’s environment department also kept ready two more teams for cutting trees.

Portable pumps

About 500 portable pumps were deployed by the KMC in waterlogging-prone pockets. “The sluice gates of the drainage channels that open in the Hooghly will remain closed between 1.30am and 5.30am on Monday because of high tide,” said a KMC official.

“There might be waterlogging if the city receives heavy rain during the time the sluice gates will remain closed.”

The New Town authorities kept portable pumps mounted on mini-trucks and vans. In Salt Lake, all drainage channels and gully pits were cleaned to ensure the water drains out fast.

Motorists’ safety

Cops of the traffic department removed all guardrails from the roads and tied them up by the roadside to prevent accidents during the storm.

CESC helplines

CESC has said those suffering power outages can call 033-35011912, 033-44031912, 18605001912, 1912.