Cyclone Amphan Aftermath - As Power And Water Supply Slowly Return, Kolkata Crawls To Normalcy

Drinking water and electricity supply has resumed in parts of Kolkata hit by Cyclone Amphan while many areas witnessed protests due to absence of essential services, according to a report in PTI.

According to sources in KMC, the restoration work is on at a war footing and they hope to get the roads cleared and remove all trees as soon as possible.

"Our job is almost complete. Now the issue of power restoration is being looked into by CESC. They have assured us that the power would be restored in remaining areas by Wednesday morning," a senior official said.

PTI

Lakhs of people were rendered homeless as cyclone Amphan cut a path of destruction through half-a-dozen districts of West Bengal, including state capital Kolkata on May 20, blowing away shanties, uprooting thousands of trees and swamping low-lying areas.

Large areas of the city continue to remain without power as electric poles and communication lines had been blown away by gusting winds.

Unlike the last five days, the city reported scattered protests on Tuesday.

Agitators at Garia and Behala in south suburban Kolkata blocked roads with branches of uprooted trees and placed barricades to restrict the movement of vehicles to press for their demands.

PTI

"Six days have passed, but electricity is yet to return to our area. We don't know when it will return," said a resident of Garia.

People blamed the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) for not being able to restore power supply, and claimed that no official of the private utility had visited the locality so far.

"We have contacted the local administration and the local police station to apprise them of our problems. No help is forthcoming from any quarter so far," another resident said.

People in Behala also demonstrated against increased water prices amid rising mercury levels.

At Seoraphuli town in Hooghly district, Congress leader Abdul Mannan took to the streets protesting against CESC's failure to restore power supply. He blocked the arterial G T Road.

PTI

Police tried to convince the Congress leader to lift the blockade but Mannan said, "I will not leave the area till CESC officials come and rectify the situation".

"Diabetic patients who are dependent on insulin are not being able to get their daily dosage of shots as refrigerators are not working due to no electricity," a protester said.

The Army was deployed in Kolkata and its neighbouring districts on Saturday, hours after the West Bengal government sought its help for immediate restoration of essential infrastructure and services in the state.

Contending that 80 per cent of all essential services have been restored in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday sought the cooperation of people for bringing the cyclone-hit state back on its feet.

Mobile and internet services are yet to be restored in several parts of South and North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore district.