Cyclone Amphan leaves behind unseen devastation in Bengal

“We have never experienced something like this in our entire life, it was like total doomsday. Everything was pitch dark—trees falling, light posts clanging and a never heard sound of the gushing winds is what we all lived through here in Bengal for four hours”—this is how Gita Ghosh, an 83-year-old women from Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, described the supercyclonic storm Amphan that ravaged Bengal, killing at least 80 people and damaging property and crops worth thousands of crore of rupees.
People in Bengal are yet to overcome what they witnessed since Wednesday evening when Cyclone Amphan made landfall in the South 24 Parganas area and blew away everything that came its way.
Speaking to many elderly residents across both North and South 24 Parganas and Kolkata, all equivocally told this correspondent that in their lifetime, they have not seen winds and a storm like this.  Many people said that such a cyclonic storm has hit Bengal after over 200 years.

The cyclone has left thousands of people without a roof over their head; for some it has even taken away their livelihood. The speed of the wind that crossed across Kolkata and North and South 24 Parganas ranged between 130-150 kmph, uprooting hundreds of trees, electric poles, electric transformers, mobile towers and many houses.  In many parts of Bengal, electricity connections are yet to be restored, mobile networks are erratic and drinking water is scarce. Even in many parts of the capital city of Kolkata, electricity connections have still not been restored fully.
In many parts of Kolkata, huge trees which fell on the streets due to the cyclone are still to be cleared.  In the Jessore Road area in North 24 Parganas, many trees which were over 100 years old were uprooted; some of these huge tree trunks fell on the houses alongside the road, destroying them completely.
The cyclone also destroyed crops worth hundreds of crores, leaving farmers helpless. The newly sowed rice crop fields have been completely inundated with water and jute crops have been totally destroyed.  Ajay Biswas, a small-time farmer from Gaighata in North 24 Parganas district, who sowed rice crop in his small field, is now helpless as his field is flooded with water and his house broken as a huge tree fell over his house on Wednesday night.
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Ajay Biswas said, “I have lost my house, my crop I don’t know what to do. I have two small children; both of them have not eaten anything from the last one day. I had invested Rs 50,000 in my field, everything is lost in one night.”
The South 24 Parganas area of Raidhighi, Sandeshkhali, Jhorkhali, Sunderbans, Gangasagar has been one of the worst affected areas as Cyclone Amphan made its landfall in this district and according to the Meteorological department, the wind speed at that time was about 180 kmph.   According to locals in these areas of South 24 Parganas, everything has been destroyed. River banks have broken, flooding many low lying areas in this district, many temporary bridges have been washed away, farmlands destroyed; the fisheries industry in this area has also been completely damaged as saline water has entered these areas.  Saline waters have also flooded the agricultural lands, destroying crops and making the land unusable for farming for years to come.
Malay Mondal, resident of Sandeshkhali area of South 24 Parganas, recalled the fury that Amphan had unleashed here for at least three hours. Speaking to this newspaper, he said, “We knew that the cyclone would be very strong, but we never knew it would be this strong. We have witnessed cyclone BulBul, Fani and Aila, but none can be compared to what Amphan was. The winds were so strong that one could not even stand straight, trees were being blown away like they were made up of paper; tin shades blew like cardboards were flying. These three hours of horror can never be forgotten.” Another fisheries cultivator, Sanjoy Roy from the Swarupnagar area which also witnessed one of the worst destruction, said, “I had five ponds in which I used to cultivate fishes, everything is gone. The river banks have broken and everything here is flooded. Saline waters have entered the land and the fish we cultivate are all fresh water fish—they have all died.”
For residents at Digha which is a coastal town and Bengalis’ favourite beach destination, people have lost their livelihood and homes. Digha has faced several cyclones in the past owning to its proximity to the Bay of Bengal, but none like this, residents said.
In a Press conference, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also said that in her lifetime, she has never experienced a cyclone like this. Even the State secretariat, Nabbana in Kolkata, has been partly damaged by the storm.
Speaking to reporters in Kolkata, Banerjee said, “The cyclone has totally destroyed both the South and North 24 Parganas. The extent of damage is being studied by the government authorities. There is no electricity in many parts of Bengal, we are trying to rectify the situation. I know in many places trees are still lying, we are getting people to work as many were unavailable due to the Covid situation. We are also trying to establish contacts in the interiors as networks are very poor, but we are working on it.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited West Bengal on Friday to take stock of the situation in the state. The PM held a meeting with the Chief Minister and state government authorities in Basirhat, North 24 Parganas, after which the Prime Minister announced an advanced relief package for the state amounting to Rs 1,000 crore. Prime Minister also said that a Central team would be sent to the state to help the state government and all support from the Centre would be extended to the state government.