As West Bengal is bracing for Fani which is heading for the state after pummeling Odisha, the storm has lost strength and from a very severe cyclonic storm turned into a severe cyclonic storm. According to a late night bulletin issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata the storm is currently located 210 km southwest of the city.
” It is very likely to continue to move north-northeastwards during next 12 hours and emerge into Gangetic West Bengal with a wind speed of 80-90 Kmph gusting to 105 Kmph by the early morning of 4th May. It is very likely to move further north-northeastwards and emerge into Bangladesh on 4th May evening as a Cyclonic Storm with wind speed 60-70 Kmph gusting to 80 Kmph,” stated the bulletin. While the storm is yet to arrive in West Bengal spells of heavy rain was witnessed in Kolkata. Till 11 pm on Friday several coastal areas of the state specially Digha and Haldia in East Medinipur district have witnessed stormy winds and heavy rainfall., Other coastal areas such as Fraserganj also witnessed gusty winds and two or three houses were damaged. However, there is no report of any casualties so far.
Fani which will enter the state at around midnight on Friday. The storm is expected to affect the districts of East and West Medinipur, Howrah, Jhargram, Hooghly, North and South 24 Paraganas and Sunderbans.
Large scale preparations have been made the state government to avoid any untoward incidents in Kolkata as well as in the coastal districts. While a red alert has been issued in the coastal districts the Kolkata Airport has ceased all operation s since 3 pm on Friday till 8 am on Saturday.
While two major shopping malls in Kolkata have shut down since Friday afternoon to avoid any untoward incident Kolkata Police has opened a control room to keep track of the situation. The state government has suspended classes in all government and government-aided schools from Friday and also cancelled leaves of doctors and other Health Department staff in view of the approaching storm. They have also instructed the owners of Tower 42, an under construction skyscraper which is touted to be the tallest building in the country to remove a crane from the structure.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has cancelled all her political programs for the next 48 hours and is monitoring the situation from Kharagpur town in West Medinipur district.
“Have cancelled my rallies for the next 48 hours because of what could be an impending disaster #CyclonicStormFANI We are monitoring the situation 24×7 and doing all it takes. I appeal to all people to cooperate. Be alert, take care and stay safe for the next two days,” tweeted Banerjee.
