Civic agencies take up cyclone Dana preparations

KOLKATA: The Bidhannagar municipal corporation and New Town Kolkata Development Authority are taking up preparatory measures for cyclone Dana.
Apart from the usual preventive measures like keeping dedicated teams in stand by for any kind of emergency situation, the Bidhannagar municipal corporation (BMC) issued instructions for puja committees to remove all temporary hoardings and Durga puja pandal structures.
All the councillors have been asked to inform the Kali puja organisers to remove or maintain the half done structures of the pandals in such a manner that there should not be any scope of any loss of damage of human life and properties due to the structures collapsing when the cyclonic storm will be passing through. All temporary or weakly fitted signboards or hoardings should also be removed before the storm hits the ground.
The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) has opened a 24 hours control room to manage preparedness, response and emergency situations. Officials will be on duty in shifts for the control room to function round the clock till October 26. The control room officers were addressed by the NKDA CEO on the preparatory measures and actions to be taken in case of emergency situations. All situations like weather updates, water and electricity supply will be monitored continuously and teams will be dispatched to critical areas for immediate action.
Emergency provisions have been kept ready with hydraulic pumps on stand by to drain out excess storm water and minimise waterlogging. The authorities will also have additional dumpers for emergency response purposes, ensuring prompt removal of fallen trees.