Possible cyclone likely to hit Bengal, Odisha on Oct 25; warning issued

A low-pressure system over the Andaman Sea is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm and reach West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts on October 25, causing wind gusting to 110 km per hour, the IMD said on Friday.

Sanjib Bandopadhyay, the deputy director-general of Regional Met Centre in Kolkata, said that the system is likely to cause light to moderate rain in Gangetic West Bengal, with isolated heavy rain in the coastal districts of South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur.

He said that it is likely to cause light to moderate rain in Kolkata on October 24 and 25.

"Wind speed of 45 to 55 km gusting to 65 kmph will occur in the coastal districts of South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur on October 24, while on October 25, wind speed will reach 90 to 100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph," he told reporters here.

Wind speed of 30 to 40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph will occur in Kolkata and adjoining districts of Howrah and Hooghly, he said.

"It will not be a super cyclone and further movement of the system will be updated by the IMD in due course," Bandopadhyay said.

Super cyclone Amphan, which ravaged the coastal districts of West Bengal in May 2020, had a wind speed of 185 kmph when it made landfall near Sundarban, officials said. The West Bengal government has begun the process of evacuating people from low-lying areas in Purba Medinipur and South 24 Parganas districts to safe shelters in the wake of the cyclone forecast, a senior official said.

"Leaves of all district magistrates, SPs and emergency department workers have been cancelled as a part of the preparedness for the possible cyclone," he said.

Tarpaulin, dry food and medicines have also been adequately stocked in these districts, the official said.

The Kolkata Police's disaster management team has been asked to work in tandem with Kolkata Municipal Corporation to address any emergency, he added.

Odisha's Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallick said all districts and coastal region authorities were directed to be prepared to deal with any eventuality.

The system is likely to trigger heavy rainfall when it crosses parallel to the state's coast on Monday.

Mallick said personnel of the fire service department, the ODRAF and NDRF are on standby for any emergency situation.

Odisha's Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena appealed to the people not to panic as the cyclone is likely to be 200 km away from the state's coast at Dhamra Port in Bhadrak district when it will head towards West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts.

"The Odisha government is in touch with the NDRF, Indian Navy and Coast Guard in view of the forecast. Odisha coast may experience maximum 50 to 60 kmph wind speed when the weather system crosses parallel to the state's coast," he said.

The IMD in its forecast said that the low-pressure area over Andaman Sea is likely to move west-northwestwards and concentrate into a depression, and deep depression thereafter on October 23.

The system is very likely to recurve northwards subsequently and intensify into a cyclonic storm over westcentral and adjoining eastcentral Bay of Bengal by October 24, the Met said.

"Thereafter, it is likely to move north-northeastwards and reach near West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts on October 25, skirting Odisha coast," the Met department said in its forecast.

The Northeast, including south Assam, east Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura, will receive rainfall on October 24, 25 and 26 under the impact of the system, it said.

Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea from October 23 until further notice.

The cyclonic storm is expected to be christened 'Sitrang', as suggested by Thailand.