KOLKATA: Cyclone ‘Mora’ that has formed over the Bay of Bengal is likely to hit the Bangladesh coast near Chittagong on Tuesday afternoon and cause heavy showers of around 5-6 cm in Nadia, South and North 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Hooghly and Kolkata districts of West Bengal.
Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata director G K Das said the cyclone has a wind speed of about 55-65 km/h due to which fishermen have been asked to stay away from the sea and tourists and locals to stay clear off the coast.
“Cyclone ‘Mora’ is the least severe in the category of severity. However, it may develop into a severe cyclone after 12 hours,” G K Das told The New Indian Express.
Rains began to pour in the south Bengal districts on Monday evening further bolstering the nor’westers and are likely to continue for the next 24 hours. The cyclone has moved from east central Bay of Bengal in the north-northeast direction and lies around 610 km from Paradip port in Odisha.
The name ‘Mora’ in Bengali means ‘dead’. However, even though the name suggests that the cyclone is unlikely to cause major damage on landfall, Bangladesh has put its emergency services at war-time preparedness in the coastal areas of Chittagong in the south eastern part of the country, sources revealed.
Meanwhile, the Meghalaya government has issued a warning of strong winds and heavy rainfall in view of Mora, saying that the cyclonic storm is likely to make landfall in the northeast region in the next 48 hours.
(With PTI Inputs)