分类： bharat

NDRF DG SN Pradhan speaks to Rajdeep Sardesai on how the force is battling the twin challenges of Cyclone Tauktae and Covid

Cyclone Tauktae has made its landfall in Gujarat. Six people were killed and eight injured in Maharashtra. There were fears of some medical supplies to Covid patients, and also vaccination drives, being disrupted in both states.

Q: CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE OF NDRF’S PREPARATIONS TO TACKLE CYCLONE TAUKTAE?

As we speak, 50-odd teams are on the ground. Gujarat is the impact state actually. The storm built up right from Lakshadweep onwards and impacted the coastal areas of Karnataka and Maharashtra.

But the major impact is due to the landfall in southern Gujarat. Fourteen districts are being impacted as we speak. That’s why the forces are lined up along the coast in those districts.

For most of the last two and a half days, they have been involved in the evacuation of those in harm’s way. More than 2 lakh people have been evacuated. The local administration of the districts has to be complimented on the task achieved.

It remains to be seen whether that has been complete and optimal. Sometimes, people aren’t able to leave houses, and unfortunate incidents do happen. But I hope those will be few and far between or none at all. I think the due diligence has been done.

Q: IN SOME AREAS, COVID PATIENTS WERE BEING TREATED IN ICUs. IN THAT SENSE, HAS THIS BEEN A MORE DIFFICULT CHALLENGE FOR THE NDRF?

Vastly more difficult, I would say. The only silver lining, I kept saying through the day, is that we probably had a trial run last year when we had a few cyclones amid Covid. NDRF personnel were infected. But due to the rigour, regimen and discipline, and Covid protocols, we didn’t have casualties.

And that has stood us in good stead. This time we doubled down on preparations. We made special suits and ensured that none of our troopers is without the double dose of vaccination.

On the other side, evacuating people and Covid patients was tricky, but I must compliment the Centre and state governments. Over the last two days, the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Cabinet Secretary held meetings. There were very clear communication lines on strategy.

The Maharashtra Chief Minister was very clear when he spoke to the Union Home Minister that ‘we will not take a chance and we will evacuate jumbo centres and take Covid patients to safer places.’ Because of this, a lot of other troubles have been avoided. Now it remains to be seen how much on the other side of the storm we are able to protect.

At least six people died in Karnataka and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae intensified into a “very severe” cyclonic storm. Cyclone Tauktae has become “extremely severe”. Gujarat is bracing for the storm’s impact as Cyclone Tauktae is hurtling northwards towards the state expected to cross the coast on Monday evening. On Sunday, gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa, damaging hundreds of houses, uprooting electricity poles and trees, and forcing evacuation in low-lying areas. Today, the IMD has issued an orange alert for Mumbai warning of very heavy rains in isolated places with strong winds.

Even as rains batter Mumbai, dabbawalas delivering food to people
While the city is being battered by heavy rains triggered by Cyclone Tauktae, the dabbawallas have been delivering food parcels to people across the city. These dabbas are being sent to quarantined people by their families or friends that dabbawalas are helping with.

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Rural India is now inundated with the surge in Covid cases with hospitals and facilities overwhelmed. Are the number of weddings flouting Covid norms behind the spike?

The second wave of Covid-19 has now gripped rural India, making inroads into villages and wreaking havoc. Ignorant of Covid-appropriate behaviour and safety protocols, villages are bearing the brunt of the second wave.

Early this month, 8 people had died in Basatpur village of Bihar’s Seetamarhi district. When India Today TV visited the village, locals said half of the village is symptomatic, however, they don’t know if it is Covid-19.

After several deaths were reported here, the health department rushed a team to carry out rapid testing in the village to check on the population.

From 11 am to 2 pm, the health department conducted around 57 tests out of which 8 were found positive with rapid testing. The health department official Satish Kumar said that many others were symptomatic.

The scale of Covid spread could be seen on ground. India Today TV witnessed the number of Covid patients went up from 8 to 10 out of the 60 who were tested. Most of these were aged below 25 years.

More children affected

The health department official confirmed that most of the positive cases in the villages are of people aged less than 25 years. The villagers said that many have died in the last few days. People are even apprehensive about getting themselves tested, said the locals.

Covid has not even spared children below 15 years. A 12-year-old girl was also diagnosed in a random Covid testing drive. A health department official said, “She had been going to wedding ceremonies and that could be a reason behind her infection.”

Villagers also said that the girl had been to wedding ceremonies from where she could have contracted the virus. The girl later left back home after being advised by the health department to isolate herself for 14 days.

Follows Munni to her house, many other girls were found in the village sitting outside their doors in isolation. They were all less than 18 years and Covid positive. None were willing to talk to the media. However, this shows the spread of the virus, which is now taking a toll on children.

Panic prevents many from attending weddings

In rural India, wedding ceremonies have continued unabated and have now turned out to be super spreader events with no checks. While even in tier-2 cities some protocols were followed, in rural areas, no such rules were in place.

Harishankar and Swapali had never imagined that their special day will wear a deserted look. But panic in Varanasi and adjoining areas due to the Covid outbreak has led to guests staying away.

In Sarnath town, most wedding ceremonies were seen abiding by rules. Families and relatives of both grooms and brides were seen wearing masks. Upon arrival of the guests, the groom’s side or the bride’s side checked temperatures with thermal scanners, used hand sanitizers and those without masks were provided with one.

One such bride’s relative, Deendayal Yadav, said, “There is a fear in the minds of people and hence most of the relatives were not even invited. Those who have come are leaving after dinner. We are following rules. This is a huge crisis around us.”

Swapali and Harishankar however are not happy as their wedding ceremony could not be as grand as they expected. Both of them did wear masks for a while, but took them off for photos with relatives on stage.

Small towns have been at receiving end of the second wave with hundreds of Covid cases being detected. Fear is palpable among villagers over the surge.