Kolkata: West Bengal is on alert as Cyclone Fani, after making landfall in Odisha on Friday morning, is moving towards its coast. It has been reported that Cyclone Fani is now 370 kms away from Kolkata and 277 kms southwest of Digha.
Since the landfall in Odisha happened much ahead of the projected time, the cyclone could reach West Bengal also ahead of projected time. It has been reported that the storm could hit West Bengal before midnight with a wind speed of 90-115 kms per hour. By Saturday evening, the cyclone will move towards Bangladesh.
Alert has been issued in districts of East and West Midnapore, Jhargram, Purulia, Birbhum, Bankura and North and South 24 Parganas as they are expected to bear most of the brunt. The cyclone is likely to enter Kolkata on Friday evening and heavy rains are expected till Saturday morning.
“Heavy rains and extremely heavy rains in one or two places of coastal areas of West Bengal likely from Friday evening to early Saturday morning. Precautionary measures remain the same,” said Sanjeev Bandhopadhyay, Deputy DGM, Kolkata Met Department, in a briefing.
