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The Indian Army was drafted into Bengal to provide aid to the area after Cyclone Amphan destroyed thousands of homes on Wednesday. The coast of Bengal and vast regions of Kolkata were left without power, water and sanitation.

Images showing servicemen clearing roads from uprooted trees and cooperating with the NDRF in the Salt Lake, Behala, and Golpark areas of Kolkata.

Three columns had been deployed to the city on Saturday evening, and two others to North and South 24 Paraganas district.

The help arrived hours after the state appealed for relief “for immediate restoration of essential infrastructure and services.”

PTI reported protesters were seen in areas near Tollygunge, including Netaji Nagar, with residents moving uprooted trees themselves with hired machinery.

There were also demonstrations in New Alipore in south Kolkata.

Residents in southwest Kolkata’s Behala said they had to buy water as supply had not been reestablished.

Efforts to restore the phone lines in the city and nearby districts were affected by protests, according to PTI.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged people to be patient as her government scrambles to repair the damages caused to key supplies.

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The efforts to restore normality in the affected region is even more challenging due to having limited resources and manpower due to the pandemic crisis.

“This is a huge disaster. We need to have patience, because nobody has seen such a disaster before,” Ms Banerjee said.

She added: “We are not sitting idle… A shortage of manpower stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic is hobbling relief and restoration efforts”.

The Chief Minister has held destruction to Bengal at Rs 1 lakh crore.

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On Saturday she said ”the only thing I can say then is cut off my head”, when asked about public animosity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who carried out an aerial assessment of affected regions alongside Ms Banerjee and Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, has announced a Rs 1,000 crore funding destined towards the restoration of affected areas.

Amphan is one of the worst to have hit the Bay of Bengal in recent years.

Ahead of the storm’s landfall, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department said: “Amphan is the most intense and the first super cyclone since the 1999 Odisha cyclone.

“We are dealing with a multi-hazard scenario as the devastating winds are expected to cause extensive damage to structures, houses and trees.”

Local authorities in West Bengal and Odisha in cooperation with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) evacuated people in coastal areas at high-risk.

The NDRF chief S N Pradhan said: “It is for the first time that we are having to face two disasters simultaneously.“We are facing a dual challenge of ‘cyclone in the time of Covid-19’.

“We are taking action according to the enormity of this challenge.”

Mr Pradhan added: “Based on our experience during cyclone Fani, all the teams are equipped with tree and pole cutters for post-landfall restoration, if the need arises.

“In view of the prevailing Covid-19 scenario, all teams are equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE).”

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