Already battered by Cyclone Aila,people living in Sunderbans will have to face fresh problems with tidal waves or Bhora Kotal hitting the area likely on Friday. The South 24-Parganas district administration on Wednesday issued a warning asking the residents to stay away from riverside or sea where embankments have been breached by the recent tropical storm. Khalid Ahmed,District Magistrate of South 24-Parganas,said the tidal wave measuring more than two metres is expected to hit the delta between June 4 and June 8. The district administration has sought support from Army and Navy and is giving priority to repair the embankments breached during the storm,he added. With more than 400 km of the embankments having been washed away in Aila and repair work moving very slowly,there is more bad news stored for the residents of the area. State Irrigation Minister Subhash Naskar said that the government would not be able to complete the repair work of the embankments and the tidal wave would leave various blocks of Sunderbans inundated. Blocks like Gosaba,Patharpratima,Namkhana and Sandeshkhali are likely to be worst affected by tidal wave. The block administrations of Gosaba,Patharpratima and Basanti have alerted the villagers today. The block administration has warned the locals to avoid the sea facing or river side villages. The administration has asked them to take shelter in camps set up after the cyclonic strom lashed the Sunderbans. Pradip Haldar,BDO of Patharpratima,said the cyclonic storm had breached the embankments at 325 points and added that it was the task of the Irrigation Department to secure the 91 breaches in the embankments as the rest would be restored by gram panchayats. Haldar rued that funds under the NREGA were not available for repair work. The block administration has started ferrying relief materials in the 10 islands of the block fearing further inundation. Similar measures have been taken by the block administration of Gosaba and Basanti. Amiya Chakraborty,BDO,Gosaba said they have decided to stock the relief material at various gram panchayat offices if the tidal wave lashes the area again. According to Basanti block administration,about 17 km of embankments have been washed away and 57 km of embankments were damaged. What is Bhora Kotal?Spring Tide also known as Bhora Kotal in local parlance in the Sunderbans usually occurs every fortnight during New Moon and Full Moon. The water level in the Sunderbans rises about two meters during the Spring Tide. According to experts at Kolkata Port Trust,these tides occur when Sun,Moon and the Earth get aligned on the same line causing the water level of the sea or river rise due to the gravitational force. The effects of the spring tide continue for two to four days,KoPT experts added.
