Kolkata, 5 December
The West Bengal government halted ferry services on the Hooghly river and urged tourists not to venture to seaside resorts as rain lashed Kolkata and other southern parts of the state on Sunday and cyclonic storm Jawad hit 180 km from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. km away.
The India Meteorological Department forecast that the cyclonic storm will move north-northeastwards towards West Bengal coast before weakening during the day.
“The system is very likely to move north-northeastwards along Odisha coast towards West Bengal and develop into a well marked low pressure area covering Kolkata, Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas, and Purba and Light to moderate rainfall has started in West Medinipur district,” said an official.
He said that there would be heavy rains in some isolated parts of South Bengal including coastal areas of South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts and parts of Purba Bardhaman.
The state administration has asked tourists not to visit seaside resorts like Digha, Mandarmani, Bakkhali, Fraserganj and other coastal areas over the weekend.
However, with the Meteorological Department forecast that a cyclonic storm would not hit West Bengal, tourists were seen descending into the water and taking pictures of the sea at Digha in East Medinipur district and Bakkhali in South 24 Parganas, ignoring warnings of a disaster. Management personnel are camping there.
Regular ferry services on Hooghly connecting North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts have been suspended, an official said.
The IMD predicted that the wind speed would not exceed 55 kmph over the coastal areas as the system moved closer to West Bengal.
Another official said the West Bengal government has evacuated around 17,900 people from the coastal areas of South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur and opened 48 relief centers in both the districts.
He said the administration has also opened 115 multipurpose cyclone shelters and 135 additional temporary relief shelters to deal with any “emergency-like situation”.
“We have kept everything ready to face any problem due to heavy rains in the next few days. Weekly holidays and other holidays of all employees have been cancelled,” he said.
The official said that 19 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in West Bengal and rapid response teams of state power and public works departments and West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSEDCL) have been deployed at critical points. has gone.
While almost all fishermen have returned to Kakdweep, Digha and other coastal areas, officials are coordinating with fishermen associations to find out if any are still in the deep sea.
State Minister Firhad Hakim said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was constantly monitoring the situation and officials of municipal bodies were on alert.
In the last two years, West Bengal has seen three devastating cyclones—Bulbul in November 2019, Amphan in May 2020 and Yas in May 2021—that left behind a trail of death and destruction. — PTI