Centre sends 10 more NDRF teams to West Bengal

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 23

The Centre today ordered to send 10 additional teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to West Bengal for post-Amphan cyclone management on the request of the state government.

Officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the teams were being sent after a written request was made by West Bengal’s Principal Secretary Disaster Management and Civil Defence for deployment of additional teams in the state.

“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 tonight,” a senior MHA official said.

A total of 26 NDRF teams are deployed in six cyclone-affected districts of West Bengal for restoration work and with the addition of the fresh ones, the total number will be 36.

The death toll due to the cyclone in West Bengal has risen to 85 as angry residents resorted to protest and road blockades in various parts of the city over the administration’s failure to restore normalcy even after three days.

Lakhs of people have been rendered homeless with Cyclone Amphan flattening houses, uprooting thousands of trees and swamping low-lying areas.

According to official sources, around 1.5 crore people of the state have been directly affected and more than 10 lakh houses destroyed due to the cyclone.