Kolkata has 300 rain shelters ready across the city

KOLKATA: Around 300 buildings have been kept ready across Kolkata to provide shelter to displaced people if various parts of the city get overrun by the recent bout of rain. Under this initiative Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has more than 250 primary schools and about 100 community halls to accommodate evacuated people.

“Whenever people have to be evacuated due to natural calamities, we have places ready to provide them shelter in face of such unprecedented calamities. This time as well, we have informed the caretakers of these schools and community halls that they may have to accommodate the displaced people any time,” said a KMC official. The relocation and accommodating are usually done jointly with the help of police and local councilors, KMC official added. Furthermore, the city police have got around 22 disaster management teams ready and teams have been deployed in areas that are prone to waterlogging such as Kaligat, Kidderpore, and other strategic locations across the city. These teams are stocked up with dry food and various items needed for rescue at a multistoried car parking lot near the Technopolis intersection.

KMC has also planned on turning the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre into a storm shelter, in times of emergency, especially for people from low-lying areas. Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation along with South Dum Dum Municipality has also arranged dry rations for the people and if needed at least 30 schools in the area and several clubs can be turned into shelters for displaced people. South Dum Dum Municipality has improvised a disaster management unit, which is sourced from the district authorities at their office.