3 lakh people evacuated from coastal districts
Super cyclone “Amphan” weakened into an extremely severe cyclonic storm on Tuesday but still packed enough force to pulverise coastal districts of Odisha and West Bengal where lakhs of people were evacuated from vulnerable areas and shifted to safety, officials said.
As it rumbled over the Bay of Bengal 510 km off the Digha coast in West Bengal, likely charting a north- northeastward course, the two States were on high alert. At least three lakh people have been evacuated from coastal areas and all steps have been taken to deal with any eventuality arising out of Amphan, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday spoke to Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Odisha — Mamata Banerjee and Navin Patnaik respectively — and assured them of all possible help to deal with the situation arising out of Amphan, officials said.
During the telephonic conversation with Mamata, Shah took stock of the situation in Bengal, where the cyclone is expected to make landfall on Wednesday.
The Home Minister assured the Chief Minister of all possible help to deal with the situation arising due to the cyclone, a Home Ministry official said.
Mamata has requested the Railways not to bring back migrant workers to West Bengal on Wednesday, Thursday morning as a precautionary measure.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the super cyclone will cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans on Wednesday afternoon with maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph.
A part of it may also make a landfall between Kakdwip and Sagar Islands in West Bengal’s south 24 Paraganas. The State Governments in West Bengal and Odisha have been asked to suspend rail and road traffic. Massive devastation is expected since the coastal areas that will be impacted are densely populated.