Cyclone Fani expected to reach coastal W Bengal on Saturday; state on alert

East and West Midnapore, both North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Jhargram, Kolkata and the Sundarbans are expected to feel the initial impact of Fani as it enters West Bengal

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee cancelled all her rallies from May 3-4 during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections and instead, chose to personally monitor cyclone Fani from Kharagpur in the state’s West Midnapore district.

Kharagpur is strategically located and from here all the threatened districts in the state - East and West Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Jhargram, Kolkata and the Sundarbans – can be closely monitored and reached quickly. Banerjee was on her way to a political rally before she decided to cancel it and instead, put up at Kharagpur to