[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by Miyata

In cyclone prone areas, there ought to be some mechanism in the landscaping "departments" to keep trimming the trees all year round. This might lessen the negative impact such as uprooting and large scale branch felling.

What is wait for there? They could easily enlist some help from the very resourceful and always ready army and have all that cleared in possibly half a day or less?

Yes, the mechanism to keep the trees in shape is very hap hazard here in Calcutta. The prime reason of uprooting so many old and mature trees is the beautification idea which covered the bases of tree trunks by adding tiles. The loss of greenery this time is unfathomable !!

Originally Posted by Sutripta

I'm surprised at the lack of JCBs in removing trees from roads. If they are at work, I haven't seen those.

The JCB’s were at work at the Rashbehari Avenue in the evening but as you said, the numbers are hopelessly low. The things I hope will improve now on after the deployment of paramilitary forces.

[hothatchaway]

CESC, the power utility serving Kolkata, should be hauled over coals for it's criminal mismanagement. What kind of amateurs leave the power switched on with Gale force winds battering the city at 130 kph? Large swathes of South Kolkata remain without power at 72+ hours.

Strict conditions laid out in service rules bind employees to their duties. Goes to show how toothless our consumer protection laws are that the same does not apply to corporate bodies and their duty to consumers. Even after three full days without power, the mandarins at the utility do not even deign to set out timelines on when service will be restored.

Numerous harassed residents of Naktaka, Moore avenue and regent park have been tweeting for the last two days (only avenue to express as the CESC helpline is down) Wonder where the CESC chief is hiding?

[digitalnirvana]

No power for 80+ hours now. No drinking water. No one answers calls at CESC and Lal Bazar control room helplines. All food and medicines in the fridge have gone bad. I dropped off my wife and kid yesterday at Girish Park and took me 1.5 hours each way to drive a 35 minute journey.

Park Street, Ballygunge circular road, Southern Avenue and Deshapriya Park look like forest tunnels. A few policemen here and there but no one from the municipal corporation or CESC seen anywhere. No steps had been taken to remove trees or even start moving them. This was Saturday night around 10pm. North Calcutta around Sealdah, Maniktala, Vivekanda Road and Central Avenue upto Girish Park is relatively unscathed because there are no trees there anyway.

Today Sunday late evening I managed to travel a 15 minute distance to Kalikapur over 2 hours. In front of Jadavpur University a team is cutting felled trees with hand-held electric saws.

Several routes are blocked by trees or blockaded by angry locals. The municipal corporation and CESC are passing responsibility like a hot potato. Cars have been smashed in some locations according to reports. The administration is overwhelmed and completely absent from the ground.

I've seen reports of the army putting boots on the ground now so hopefully things will improve.

[Miyata]

Cyclone Amphan wipes out Asia’s largest book market, College Street, in Kolkata

Books worth ₹60 lakh were found either torn or wet all over College Street

Many of the booksellers have decided to open a grocery shop after the lockdown ends.

[Sujoy76]

This situation is still very bad. Most of the areas of North and South 24 Parganas are still without Electricity and water. Indian Army has deployed 5 Columns in Kolkata to expedite the restoration work. The damage has been unimaginable. People of Bengal are determined and confident of fightng their way out of this situation.


We will not vanish without a fight. We are going to rise again.

My tribute to the people in distress.

[Fordlover88]

Originally Posted by Miyata

Cyclone Amphan wipes out Asia’s largest book market, College Street, in Kolkata

This is heart breaking to say the least. College Street is not just any other market, it's an emotion to us. We have lots of memories attached to this place. Be it hunting for books, catching up with pals at coffee house or exploring street food, this place had it all.

[ramzsys]

After amphan cooling the bay, weather models are hinting a cyclone formation in the arabian, around the first week of June.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Sujoy76

We will not vanish without a fight. We are going to rise again.

Beautiful, Sujoy76.

I checked my poor memory with my wife: it seems that, in our Southern-Chennai suburb, we had electricity restored soon after cyclone Vardah. Mobile-phone connectivity took a few days. It took weeks to clear the streets of fallen trees, but they were cut back and shifted to make most streets passable in a few days.

It was horrific, but it passed over us in a couple of hours: I'd hate to endure that for over six hours. Some of the video coverage reminds me of the horizontal heavy rain.

Best wishes to all you guys. Hoping the additional army help resolves your problems quickly.

For those close to the coast, I guess there is no resolution: what they had is gone. What happens next?

[Fordlover88]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

For those close to the coast, I guess there is no resolution: what they had is gone. What happens next?

Their loss is far greater than ours. The only difference is there's no mainstream media to highlight their plight post amphan. Sharing an associated forward regarding the same.

The picture depicts the below conversation in Bengali:

Person 1- Saw in tv few roads are blocked by locals in resentment of electricity not restored yet. Why there's no such road block in sundarban where damage is much more?

Person 2- Because dam across the river has washed away. There is no road to block.

Person 1- That's horrible. Why it's not broadcasted in tv?

Person 2- Because for media there is no existence of West Bengal outside Kolkata. Kolkata means West Bengal, West Bengal means Kolkata.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Fordlover88

... ... ...
Person 2- Because for media there is no existence of West Bengal outside Kolkata. Kolkata means West Bengal, West Bengal means Kolkata.

I would guess it is also true that the only way they would be able to cover those areas is by flying over them?

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I would guess it is also true that the only way they would be able to cover those areas is by flying over them?

Eastern India does not sell well in the great Indian media bazaar. Time and again floods in Assam have been ignored and even the government, let alone the media, does not know what to do with the NE,. For many elsewhere in India, Bengal is popular as the homeland of that evil politician whose only aim in life is to thwart the Noble endeavors of the Indian state. The other residents of Bengal merge into a hazy amorphous extension of the said politician in the minds of a populace raised on a toxic diet of Indian mass media.

From whatever little I have been able to follow on popular TV channels, the newscasters seem confused about how to report on this calamity.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Eastern India does not sell well in the great Indian media bazaar. Time and again floods in Assam have been ignored and even the government, let alone the media, does not know what to do with the NE

Absolutely agree with you here, the Eastern and NE India doesn’t exist for the mainland India in times of calamities. Assam floods is an yearly phenomenon but which has now become like just another news occupying some two minutes of airtime and print ink. A cyclone of the magnitude of Amphan which has crippled an entire metropolis and the entire sea coast of Bengal hardly finds mention across national media and that’s a joke actually. Friends of mine working in the finance industry were being told from the Mumbai to achieve their targets when half of Calcutta is without electricity and mobile network. Shows what people outside Calcutta and Bengal know of the situation. I have been staying at a friend’s place for the last two days, I have that option for now but not many have that option. My area is still under no electricity, water and mobile network. Hope floats still ..

[Thad E Ginathom]

Guys, I know about prejudice by Indians against Indians from the far North East, but I didn't know attitudes to West Bengal were so bad. I guess this explains why there is so little about Amphan in my newspapers, down south here in Tamil Nadu, only a couple of days later.

Heck, we've been through this too, with Vardha in 2016, and the more recent cyclone which caused so much damage in the South of the state. The least we owe you guys is a bit of brotherly love and interest in your recovery.

[digitalnirvana]

While I agree partially that Bengal didn't feature on the national media on day 1, it need not be attributed to apathy or worse, lack of empathy and prejudice. Communications were very badly hit and for the first 24 hours there was very little information. Almost all neighbourhoods in Calcutta were isolated pockets let alone beyond the city

News coverage did pick up over the next 2 or 3 days. What is more interesting is that a simultaneous (dare I say, almost coordinated?) outrage started doing the rounds on social media.

The key message was that India doesn't care about the Bengali, and India to them is only the cow belt (I'm not taking names but Bengalis reading this will understand the 2 key states). I'll not go into exact details because it is racist / xenophobic but the barrage of messages were designed to provoke the regional fervour and Bangali identity.

They said that from the national anthem to the Nobels, Bengal had given India so much while India focuses only on a few particular communities of the North. There was anger directed at the media and particularly the center. The messages ended with #prayforbengal and #Bengalfightsback and "jodi tor daak sune keu na aase tobe ekla cholo re" (go alone if no one answers) etc, while asking the reader to recognise and keep fighting against this bias.

I did a bit of browsing and noticed many of these posts and the likes / comments seem to subtly pitch a certain person as the sole protector of Bengali ideology against the onslaught of a certain other northern India based group. Read between the lines and you'll understand which two parties I mean. All this while relief work hadn't even fully gotten underway on the ground, seemed quite preemptive.

I know about Cambridge Analytica etc but this real life example was astounding - at the power of social media and the spread and speed at which minds can be influenced. I've since had debates with several of my close friends trying to stop them from being caught up in the politicisation of a disaster (on either side of the divide) but some are whipped into a frenzy of Bengali pride (which somehow seems to translate to anger against a few non bengali communities and leaders).

But this has certainly taught me how Facebook and the likes are used as a tool to influence the masses. I think disasters especially should be a time of coming together and keeping ideologies aside. But hey I am evidently wrong!

Sorry if I have posted OT.

[SnakemanJohny]

[quote=hothatchaway;4810291: Wonder where the CESC chief is hiding?[/QUOTE]

CESC supremo, being the biggest industrialist to back the government (most others have fled Bengal), can get away with murder -- almost. Having reduced own workforce, he has given out nearly all street level operations to contract labour. This is also partly due to the labour policies of the last government -- encouraging militant trade unionism and discouraging work. Most of these workers from neighbouring states have gone home, because of the long lockdown, and also because of the farming season. The skeleton staff left would have been enough for normal breakdown maintenance, but not in the current situation.

Moreover, as most disruptions were due to fallen trees and posts, they could not cope. Neither could the government, equipped with a small disaster response force, and 25 units of the NDRF, and an attitude to not seek army help. Regular army units, plus the Territorial Army (more suited to disaster relief), are always offering help, but are usually rebuffed.

Years ago, CESC had its own tree-cutting & trimming force, but the Goenkas have disbanded that too, leaving all to municipal authorities. They too do not bother much with trimming, except for near big budget Durga Poojas. Environmental activists, and doing away with double-decker buses ( which needed higher headroom), are also responsible for the mess.

Feverish tree-planting, with unsuitable species and insufficient room, are turning the city (and state) greener, but with dangerous results. Cyclone Ayla in 2009 seemed to knock some sense into everyone, but its lessons were quickly forgotten.
Except for renewed dam building in low-lying Sunderban delta (to provide employment in these jobless areas) little else was done. Disaster response is limited to relocating villagers to storm shelters, as that formula by Odisha led to zero casualties last time it hit them. In Calcutta it is limited to evacuation from dangerously old buildings, and keeping pumping stations ready to remove floodwaters.