After what has been an unusually active period of activity in the Bay of Bengal— which saw the formation of as many as six low-pressure systems since the end of August 2021 — the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday warned that a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal, which intensified as a deep depression, will turn into Cyclone Gulab ( named by Pakistan) by Sunday evening.
This will be the third cyclone of 2021 after Tauktae and Yaas that had formed in May this year. Odisha, West Bengal and coastal Andhra Pradesh have been put on high alert. The intensification of this system into a cyclonic storm is a highly unusual phenomenon, considering the temperature across the Bay of Bengal remains too low between the monsoon months of June to September to support cyclone formation.
Under the influence of Gulab and its remnant systems, In the wake of the approaching storm, the IMD has forecast light to moderate intensity (2.4mm to 644mm in 24-hours) over West Bengal, Odisha and coastal Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. On Sunday, the Met Office has warned of very heavy to extremely heavy rain (115.6mm to over 204.4mm in 24-hours) over south Odisha, north coastal Andhra Pradesh.Heavy rain is likely over Telangana, north interior Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. Due to rough sea conditions and intense winds, fishermen have been advised against venturing into the sea till Monday.
The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba reviewed the preparedness to deal with a cyclonic storm developing in the Bay of Bengal and directed authorities to take all necessary measures. It is likely to affect districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and Ganjam and Gajapati in Odisha.
Gauba stressed that all preventive and precautionary measures should be taken by the concerned authorities of the State Governments and concerned agencies of the Centre, before the cyclonic storm makes landfall, as the aim should be to keep loss of lives to near zero and minimize damage to property and infrastructure.
The Cabinet Secretary assured the State Governments that all Central agencies are ready and will be available for assistance. The chief secretaries of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh apprised the NCMC of the preparatory measures being undertaken to protect the population in the expected path of the cyclonic storm as also measures being taken to ensure that there is minimal damage to infrastructure such as telecom and power in the aftermath of the storm.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) director general S N Pradhan tweeted that the teams — 13 in Odisha and five in Andhra Pradesh — will be in place by Saturday night. The NDRF teams in Odisha will be deployed in Balasore, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Nayagarh and Malkangiri districts. In Andhra Pradesh, the teams will be deployed in Vishakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Yanam and Vizianagaram. An NDRF team usually has a strength of 47 personnel who are equipped with tree and pole cutters, communication gadgets, inflatable boats and basic medical aid to rescue affected people and to launch relief operations.
So far, two storms have formed in the season, first one being Cyclone Taute which had formed in the Arabian Sea, between May 14 and 19, making a landfall at Diu. The other one was Cyclone Yaas that formed in the Bay of Bengal, around May 23 and 28, which had crossed the Odisha coast.
Like most recent storms that have crossed Indian coasts, this system, too, is rapidly intensifying. In less than 48 hours, it intensified from a low pressure (wind speed less than 34kms/hr) to a deep depression (wind speed 51 to 61kms/hr).