Residents of an island in Pathar Pratima block in West Bengal's South 24 Paraganas district stood up to the wrath of Cyclone Yaas and saved their village by preventing the local river embankment from collapsing in the face of the swelling river.
Around 12.30 pm on Wednesday, residents of the island village G Plot in Pathar Pratima breathed a sigh of relief thinking that their village escaped Cyclone Yaas without much damage. Panic set in when they noticed water trickling into their homes and paddy fields from the local river.
Locals said that sensing imminent danger, they rushed to the earthen river embankment separating the village from the river. They saw that their worst nightmare had come true.
Unable to withstand the massive pressure from the local river swelling due to the combined effects of the cyclone and astronomical high tide, a section of the embankment had partially collapsed.
About 20 people rushed out of their homes with whatever little tarpaulin, plastic sheet and bundles of hay they could find in a desperate bid to save the village. While some of them tried patching up the breached portion of the embankment with plastic and tarpaulin sheets, others risked their lives even more by laying on the embankment pressing the bundles of hays on the cracks.
The river swelled even more with time and what started as a desperate attempt to save the village by 20 odd people turned into a united effort of about 700 villagers. While a section of them tried to plug the cracks with plastic sheets, others kept putting soil from the paddy field on the embankment to strengthen it.
The locals' efforts paid off as they were able to prevent the embankment from collapsing, even as they were aware that it would be a tall and potentially fatal task.
“But at that point, we had no other option. If the embankment collapsed then we would have lost our lives and livelihood,” said Tapan Jana, a villager.
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