New Delhi, May 19 : Super cyclone ”Amphan” is likely to make landfall along the West Bengal coast on Wednesday with very high wind speeds ranging up to 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph and heavy rains.
This was conveyed to the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, which met here on Tuesday to review the preparedness of the states and central ministries and agencies to deal with the cyclonic storm, an official statement said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated that the super cyclone is expected to impact the West Bengal coast by the afternoon or evening of May 20.
Very high wind speeds ranging up to 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph are expected, accompanied by heavy rainfall and storm surges of 4-5 metres in the coastal districts of the state.
Districts of East Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Kolkata are expected to be impacted, the statement said.
The damage potential of the cyclone is expected to be higher than that of cyclone ”Bulbul”, which hit the West Bengal coast on November 9, 2019, it said.
Cyclone ”Amphan” will also bring heavy rainfall, squally winds and storm surges in the coastal districts of Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Balasore in Odisha.
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are currently deployed and rescue and relief teams of the Army and Navy along with ships and aircrafts of the Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard have been put on standby.
Cyclone ”Amphan” has developed into a super cyclone over the Bay of Bengal on Monday and has the potential to cause extensive damage in the coastal districts of West Bengal when it makes landfall, the government had said.
This is the second super cyclone over the Bay of Bengal in two decades.
The cyclone is expected to make landfall on the West Bengal coast in the afternoon of May 20 between Digha in West Bengal and Hatia island in Bangladesh as an extremely severe cyclonic storm.
The cyclone has the potential to cause extensive damage in the coastal districts of West Bengal, the government said.
”Amphan” will cause heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of West Bengal, it added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday had reviewed the situation arising from the cyclone and assured all possible assistance from the central government.
According to the IMD, the districts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim will witness light to moderate rainfall on May 21 (Thursday).Light to moderate rainfall is expected at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places over the western districts of Assam and Meghalaya on Thursday according to IMD.
The IMD has warned that fishing activities should be banned in Odisha and West Bengal from May 19 to May 20 as the condition of the sea is phenomenal and is likely to continue for next 12 hours.
(with Agency inputs )
