On May 20 evening ‘Amphan’ to make landfall on West Bengal coast, an extremely severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds up to 195 km/h, says the government.
The cyclone will cause heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in coastal districts of West Bengal. East Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, and Kolkata likely to be worst affected by the cyclone, says the government. It said ‘Amphan’ has the potential to cause extensive damage in coastal districts of West Bengal. It is also likely to impact North Odisha coastal districts including Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, and Balasore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the response preparedness against ‘Amphan’ and assured all possible central assistance to the states. Soon after the meeting, the prime minister wrote on Twitter that he prays for everyone’s safety ‘and assures all possible support from the central government’. At the review meeting, Modi took stock of the situation and reviewed the measures as well as the evacuation plan presented by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
During the presentation of the response plan, DG NDRF (SN Pradhan) informed that 25 NDRF teams have been deployed on the ground while 12 others are ready in reserve. 24 other NDRF teams are also on standby in different parts of the country. The prime minister said he ‘reviewed the preparedness regarding the situation due to cyclone ‘Amphan’. The response measures, as well as evacuation plans, were discussed. Home Minister Amit Shah, Principal Advisor to the PM P K Sinha and Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba also attended the meeting. — PTI
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