KOLKATA: The South 24 Parganas district administration began evacuating villagers from Mousuni, Ghoramara, Sagar, Patharpratima and Gosaba in the Sunderbans on Friday, a day before a high tide hits coastal Bengal, which is still grappling with the crisis caused by Cyclone Yaas and a spring tide last month.
The high tide will hit the islands whose embankments had given away during the cyclone and where repairs are still underway.
The water level is already increasing and district officials are apprehensive of villages being flooded once more.
Nabanna has alerted several districts, directing DMs to keep flood shelters and relief materials ready.
“We have evacuated 3,500-odd villagers from Mousuni and Ghoramara.
Adequate relief materials are in stock while DMG and civil defence teams are on standby,” said Namkhana BDO Santanu Singha Thakur.
Gosaba BDO Sourav Mitra conceded that embankment repairs were pending in some places.
“Mud embankments cannot be built in a day.
A layer has to dry before another is laid on top.
Incessant rain last week hampered work.
We are evacuating some 7,000 villagers who will take shelter at relief centres,” he said.
On Friday, the water level rose by a metre and, officials said, it might rise higher between 9am and noon on Saturday.
“The CM told us to evacuate villagers before the tide and we are working accordingly.
We have stationed rescue vessels at Sagar and disaster management teams are ready to act in case of an emergency,” said state Sunderbans development minister Bankim Hazra who inspected embankments at Mousuni and Patharpratima on Friday.
In East Midnapore, fishermen in the coastal belt of Digha, Mandarmani, Shankarpur and Tajpur have been asked not to head to sea on Saturday and block officials have been instructed to shift villagers to flood relief centres the moment they realise the water level is rising.
No one will be allowed on the beaches during the high tide.
Nabanna is also keeping close tabs on the probability of heavy rainfall in Jharkhand and Bihar, which may impact Bengal.
The state has asked DVC not to release water from its dams without informing the government.
(With inputs from Debashis Konar and Suman Mondal)