‘We had to ensure safety and social distancing’
Sudipta Mandal found himself literally at the eye of the storm when Cyclone Amphan struck last week. The 46-year-old block development officer for South 24 Parganas in Kolkata was in charge of Sagar Island, one of the worst-hit by the cyclone that made landfall on the coastlines of Bangladesh and West Bengal on May 20. After the Indian Meteorological Department issued the warning earlier this month, Mandal supervised the rescue and relief operations with nearly 500 officials and volunteers. Together, they evacuated around 45,000 villagers from various islands and shifted them to shelters.
This is not his first rehabilitation effort. He was also involved in the operations after Cyclone Fani hit Odisha in May 2019, and a few months later, Cyclone Bulbul that hit the Bengal coast. “Cyclone Amphan was by far the most destructive. Now that the cyclone has passed, relief and reconstruction work has started,” he said.
The challenge was greater due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We not only had to shift villagers to safe locations but also ensure that there was social distancing. Around 500 migrant workers who had just returned from other states had to be kept in six quarantine centres,” Mandal said, adding, “My family members including my parents called me frequently to ask about my safety. But there was no mobile connectivity.”