Cyclone Dana: Union Home Minister Amit Shah's scheduled Kolkata tour on October 24 has been postponed due to the impending cyclone Dana. Shah was supposed to inaugurate the Rs 450 crore modern passenger terminal at Petrapole on the Indo-Bangladesh border.
Notably, cyclone Dana is likely to hit the north Odisha and West Bengal coasts, between Puri and Sagar Island, on the intervening night of October 24 and 25, with winds reaching 100-110 km per hour. The Land Port Authority of India had previously issued a notice to halt import-export activities for four days from October 22, in anticipation of Shah's visit.
Cyclone Dana likely to form over Bay of Bengal
As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a cyclonic storm named as Cyclone Dana is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal by October 23 and the coastal region of Odisha is likely to receive heavy rainfall till October 25. This is because a cyclonic circulation over the Andaman sea on Monday intensified into a low-pressure area and is likely to turn into a cyclonic storm by October 23.
The weather department has issued alerts for potentially severe weather conditions associated with this system.
The Met office forecast heavy rain in the coastal districts of East Midnapore, West Midnapore, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts on October 23. Heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy downpours at one or two places is likely in East Midnapore, West Midnapore, South 24 Parganas and Jhargram on October 24 and 25, it said. The Met office also said that heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely in Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas, Purulia and Bankura districts on October 24 and 25.
25 teams of NDRF on standby
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has kept 14 teams in West Bengal and 11 teams in Odisha on standby for deployment in the wake of an impending cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal which is likely to make a landfall between Puri and Sagar Island on Thursday, a government statement said Monday.
In a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) to review preparedness for the impending cyclone on Monday, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan was also informed that additional rescue and relief teams of the Army, Navy and Coast Guard along with ships and aircraft have been kept in readiness.
(Input: Onkar Sarkar)
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