Coastal states try to evacuate people in time of Covid-19
OFFICIALS OF GUJARAT AND MAHARASHTRA SAID THAT CARE WAS BEING TAKEN TO ENSURE SEPARATION OF COVID-19 POSITIVE CASES FROM OTHERS DURING THE EVACUATION EFFORTS
MUMBAI: A day before tropical cyclonic storm Nisarga was expected to make landfall just south of Mumbai bringing with it high speed winds and very heavy rainfall, Maharashtra and Gujarat began evacuating thousands of residents of coastal districts, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the chief ministers of both states on Tuesday of help from the Centre.
The severe cyclonic storm with an expected wind speed ranging from 100-110 kmph (gusting to 120 kmph) is likely to make landfall near Alibaug in Raigad district on Wednesday afternoon according to a forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
This comes at a time when both states are already reeling under a high caseload of Covid-19 infections — while Maharashtra recorded 72,300 cases, Gujarat recorded 17,632 cases as on June 2 — raising concerns over the strain it would place on their health care infrastructure and municipal resources.
While Gujarat had started moving 13,000 people from coastal areas, Maharashtra had evacuated at least 7,600 people till Tuesday evening. Another 21,000 are expected to be moved from Palghar and at least 35,000 residents of Raigad — where the cyclone is expected to make landfall — will be evacuated, as well.
The National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) has deployed 40 teams in Maharashtra, Gujarat and the UT.
Five additional NDRF teams from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh will be airlifted and deployed in Mumbai by Wednesday morning, a senior commander from NDRF said. State disaster relief teams have also been activated.
Officials of Gujarat and Maharashtra said that care was being taken to ensure separation of Covid-19 positive cases from others during the evacuation efforts. Anupam Srivastava, NDRF Maharashtra commandant, said each jawan has been provided with a rescuer Covid kit. “It will be a difficult rescue operation, but we are well-prepared,” Srivastava said.
Pankaj Kumar, additional chief secretary (ACS), revenue of Gujarat said that rescue teams were equipped with masks, PPE kits and hand sanitiser. “We will ensure that power cut doesn’t affect functioning of Covid-19 hospitals,” Kumar said.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray asked local residents to not step out of their houses on Wednesday and Thursday, and ordered establishments, which had opened in the past few days after the lockdown, to stay shut.
Of the seven districts likely to be affected in Maharashtra, Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri have more tehsils at the elevation of just 5 to 15 m above sea level, putting them at greater risk of inundation in the event of very heavy rainfall as predicted. Most of the district collectors have imposed curfew in the tehsils expected to be hit of cyclone over next three days.
Ganesh Kashnath Lohar, 30, a fisherman who resides 500-metres from the coast close to Mandwa jetty in Alibaug was surprised to see four boats and 13 officials of the Maharashra Maritime Board, district collector’s office and NDRF on Tuesday, as they assessed the level of storm surge in the region.
“We had only heard about devastating impacts that cyclones had caused in south Konkan but now, based on warnings issued by district officials, we are expecting to witness it first hand,” said Lohar, adding, “First it was the lockdown that restricted fishing for almost the entire month of March, and then when we began fishing for just over a month, now a cyclone is coming.”