S Bengal to experience strong winds: MeT

Kolkata: A cyclonic storm that is said to hit the coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh may not have a major impact on the state but the South Bengal districts will witness a strong wind measuring around 70-80 km per hour, predicted the Regional Meteorological Centre at Alipore on Thursday.

An alert has been issued to the coastal districts of the state and the fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea till Saturday. An alert has also been sent to the East Midnapore district administration asking them to impose restrictions on bathing of visitors in the rough sea at Digha and other nearby beach towns in the district.

The Group-of-Minister (GoM) which was constituted by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee before going on a foreign tour, held a meeting at Nabanna on Thursday chalking out plans on how to combat the cyclonic situation in the state. It would be monitored from the control room of the disaster management department at Nabanna. The state Irrigation department is also keeping a tab on the situation. The senior officials of the state Irrigation department are in constant touch with their counterparts at the Centre.

According to the MeT office prediction, a low pressure trough has formed over West Central Bay of Bengal which will further intensify due to cyclonic storm, bringing moderate to heavy rainfall in some parts of South Bengal. It was also learnt the people from various South Bengal districts including the city may encounter a strong wind.

The cyclonic storm will have no major effect on Bengal as it would hit the neighbouring districts including Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The situation is expected to improve from Saturday, a weather official said.

The state government has already taken all the preventive measures to deal with the situation. All the concerned departments have been asked to be on alert and closely monitor the situation. There is absolutely no need to panic, a senior government official said.