Kolkata: The Met department on Sunday said that the cyclone Yaas will make landfall in West Bengal with maximum wind-speed of 165kmph.
“The Depression over eastcentral Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards with a speed of five kmph during the past six hours. 90 km north-northwest of Port Blair (Andaman Islands), 570 km south-southeast of Paradip (Odisha) and 650 km south-southeast of Digha (West Bengal). It is very likely to intensify into a Cyclonic Storm by May 24 and further into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm during the subsequent 24 hours and by May 26 evening it will make the landfall between Paradip and Sagar island,” said Sanjib Bandhopadhyay, joint director IMD.
The weatherman also added that gusty storms with thunderstorms in the coastal areas and Midnapore and North and South Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Kolkata and in other places in Gangetic Bengal will start from May 25 and the intensity of which will gradually increase.
Meanwhile West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Disaster Management team over the preparedness for the cyclone Yaas.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also took to Twitter and said she had extensively reviewed the preparedness of the KMC and Disaster Management team and the DMs and the SPs.
“I have extensively reviewed the Disaster Management preparedness with regards to the impending Yaas cyclone today afternoon with all senior officers of relevant Central & State agencies along with DMs & SPs,” read the tweet.
Meanwhile, 20 teams had been formed by the Kolkata Police Headquarters to tackle the situation. A three member team is also led by West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay.
334 personnel of NDRF from Patna and Varanasi are deployed in West Bengal and from Arakkonam in Port Blair to keep vigil on the situation after the cyclone struck West Bengal.
Several shelters are being made with relief materials, medicines, food and drinking water in North 24-Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, West Midnapore and Kolkata to combat the post-cyclone but in keeping with the COVID situation.
Talking to Free Press Journal, Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh said that initiatives are taken to curb the menace of water-logging in the prone areas.
“KMC team has inspected the areas that are prone to water-logging and proper steps are being taken to handle the situation. We have chalked out plans on water logging management and generator arrangement in case of power supply stoppage,” said Ghosh.
The state government had also floated instructions to the electricity supplies companies to ensure uninterrupted power supply and also take proper measures.
Hoarding and banners across Kolkata and adjoining areas were being removed and big trees and abandoned wires were also trimmed to avoid untoward incidents during the cyclone.
