Jawad turns into deep depression heavy rainfall forecast in next 24 hrs

“Heavy rain will occur in some isolated parts of south Bengal, including coastal areas of South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts, and parts of Purba Bardhaman,” the official said.

As per the Met Office, the wind speed will reach a maximum 60 km per hour. “Over the districts of Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas, the wind speed will remain 30 km per hour with gusting of 50 km per hour. The rain will continue over south Bengal districts and Kolkata till December 6. The weather condition will improve from December 7,” said a senior Met department official.

Since Saturday, Kolkata and its adjoining districts in south Bengal are witnessing moderate to heavy rainfall.

Meanwhile, the state government suspended regular ferry services on Hooghly connecting North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts and urged people to not visit seaside resort towns of Digha, Mandarmani, Bakkhali, Frazerganj and other coastal areas.

According to a senior government official, the administration has evacuated around 17,900 people from the coastal areas of South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts and opened 48 relief centres there.

The government has also opened 115 multipurpose cyclone shelters and 135 additional temporary relief shelters.

Nineteen National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed in West Bengal and quick response teams of the state power and public works departments and West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSEDCL) have been posted at crucial points, an official said.

While almost all fishermen have returned to Kakdwip, Digha and other coastal areas, the authorities are coordinating with fishermen associations to find out if anyone is still in the deep sea.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is constantly monitoring the situation and officials of the municipal bodies are on guard, state minister Firhad Hakim said.

In the last two years, West Bengal has witnessed three devastating cyclones — Bulbul in November 2019, Amphan in May 2020 and Yaas in May 2021 — that left behind a trail of death and destruction. With PTI