For cyclone warning look for ants and of course radio

Kolkata (PTI): Every year nature unleashes its fury as the monsoon arrives but for residents of Uttar Durgapur, a tiny village a lesson learnt is mother nature gives ample signals too of the impending disaster and it pays if one learns and accordingly prepares for the same. Residents of this village near Kulpi in South 24 Parganas district of coastal West Bengal have learnt just that and avert major tragedies. "Ants carrying eggs to higher positions in the house, snails inching up higher grounds in the fields and flocks of grasshoppers flying haphazardly indicate rainy weather coupled with strong wind and cyclone," says Amba Gharami, a villager. Apart from the natural indicators, the villagers also depend on weather bulletins and cyclone warnings for fishermen broadcast by All India Radio in Kolkata. Septuagenarians like Hari... [read full story]