Odisha, Bengal brace for possible cyclone
Odisha is bracing for heavy rainfall early next week under the impact of a possible cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, which is likely to skirt the state and move towards West Bengal and Bangladesh, the IMD said on Friday.
The West Bengal government has initiated the process of evacuating people from low-lying areas in several districts, officials said.
The weather system, which is presently in the form of a low pressure area over the North Andaman sea and adjoining areas, is likely to take shape of a depression on Saturday and a deep depression on Sunday, before intensifying into a cyclonic storm on Monday, and move in north and north-east direction towards West Bengal and Bangladesh, the IMD said.
The cyclonic storm is expected to be christened ‘Sitrang’, as suggested by Thailand.
Odisha’s Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallick said that instructions have been issued to all the districts and coastal region authorities to deal with any eventuality.