Cyclone Fani no more a threat to Bengal, weakens before entering Bangladesh

Cyclone 'Fani', which ravaged most parts of Odisha and left 12 people dead, poses no threat to West Bengal anymore, as it weakens further before entering neighbouring Bangladesh, a senior official said on Saturday.

As per forecast, there will be moderate to light rainfall, particularly in the districts adjacent to Bangladesh, but the weather condition in and around the city will normalise through the course of the day, Deputy Director General of the Regional Meteorological Centre here, Sanjib Bandyopadhyay told PTI.

"There is absolutely no threat from this system (cyclone Fani) to West Bengal. The very severe cyclonic storm had weakened into a severe cyclonic storm over Odisha coast before entering West Bengal," he said.

"Fani is likely to continue to move and further weaken in the next six hours. It is very likely to move to Bangladesh around noon as a deep depression," Bandyopadhyay said.

Light to moderate rain is likely in the districts adjacent to Kolkata, and clear skies are expected in the city by afternoon, the official said.

The West Bengal government had taken precautionary measures Friday in East and West Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas districts, besides Howrah, Hooghly, Jhargram, Kolkata and the Sundarbans, in wake of the cyclonic storm.

'Fani' barrelled through Odisha on Friday, unleashing copious rain and windstorm that gusted up to 175 kmph, killing at least 12 people, blowing away thatched houses and swamping towns and villages.

Cyclone 'Fani' may turn into severe storm, NDRF, Coast Guard on high alert

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Indian Coast Guard have been put on high alert and fishermen asked not to venture into the sea as cyclone 'Fani' is expected to intensify into a very severe storm by Tuesday, the Home Ministry said Monday.

The cyclonic storm 'Fani' Monday morning was located at 880 km of South-East of Chennai and it will continue to move North-West and change its path to North-East from Wednesday.

The cyclone is expected to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by Tuesday, a home ministry statement said.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), its landfall over Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh is ruled out. However, the possibility of landfall in Odisha is under continuous watch.

The NDRF and the Indian Coast Guard have been put on high alert and placed at the disposal of the state governments concerned. Regular warnings have been issued since April 25 to fishermen not to venture into the sea and asking those at sea to return to coast, it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is closely monitoring the situation and has directed Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to convene a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) to take stock of the situation with the state governments and the central ministries and agencies concerned to ensure necessary preparations to deal with the situation.

The IMD has been issuing three hourly bulletins with latest forecast to all the states concerned and the home ministry is also in continuous touch with the state governments and the central agencies concerned, the statement said.