On account of the impending rainfall due to the cyclone, flight operations will remain suspended at Kolkata airport from 6:00 PM Saturday till 6:00 AM on Sunday.
With Cyclone 'Bulbul' fast approaching West Bengal, schools, colleges, and anganwadi centres have been closed in the state till further notice. The Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has also stated that more than 1.4 lakh people have already been rescued from vulnerable areas.
West Bengal CM also informed that the state administration is closely monitoring the situation and the National Disaster Response Team has also been deployed. The CM also appealed to the citizens of West Bengal vulnerable to the cyclone to keep calm and co-operate with the administration in rescue and relief efforts.
People evacuated from vulnerable areas have been kept in schools and in relief shelters. 238 relief camps have been opened and145 kitchens have been started to feed the people in shelter camps.
"Cyclone Bulbul is about to pass through Bengal. Our State Administration is closely monitoring the situation 24x7. We are taking all measures to tackle any contingency. Special Control Rooms have been set up and NDRF-SDRF teams are deployed," she said.
"Please do not panic. Kindly remain calm and co-operate with the administration in its rescue and relief efforts. Be alert, take care and stay safe," she said.
Six SDF teams and 10 NDRF team have been deployed to carry out search and rescue missions. 52 boats and 1335 Civil Defence personnel have been kept ready.
Ms Banerjee said top officials including chief secretary will be monitoring the situation from the State Secretariat. All officials will be working in 24/7 mode, she said.
She also requested people to maintain peace as tomorrow in Eid Milad-un-Nabi.
On account of the impending rainfall due to the cyclone, flight operations will remain suspended at Kolkata airport from 6:00 PM Saturday till 6:00 AM on Sunday.
According to an IMD bulletin, the very severe cyclonic storm‘Bulbul’ lay centred at around 150 KM South-Southwest of Kolkata and 75KM Southeast of Digha at 5:30 pm today with wind speeds reaching up to 125-135 KMPH and gusting to 150 KMPH.
The IMD predicts light to moderate rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall in over West and East Medinipur, South & North 24 Parganas during the next 24 hours. Squally wind speed 50-60 KMPH to 70 KMPH is very likely to prevail over Kolkata during the next 9 hours. Gale wind speed 80-90 KMPH is prevailing along & off along & off west & east Medinipur, South & North 24 Parganas and is likely to increase gradually becoming 110-129 KMPH gusting to 135 KMPH at time of landfall.
Earlier, cyclone 'Bulbul' triggered heavy rainfall coupled with strong winds in the coastal districts of Odisha on Saturday.
The strong wind has uprooted hundreds of trees in various coastal districts of Odisha. The NDRF, ODRAF, police and fire personnel are engaged in clearing the roads in these areas.
The cyclone has affected districts which include Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, and Bhadrak. 1070 people have been evacuated to several shelters by the Kendrapara district administration and 1050 people have been evacuated from Balasore and Jagatsingpur districts.
Many areas in Odisha like Paradip, Chandbali, and Balasore received 159 mm, 143 mm, 32 mm of rainfall respectively.
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