New Delhi: Cyclone Amphan will make landfall on West Bengal coast on May 20 evening as extremely severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds up to 195 kmph, said Centre on Monday.

"Amphan is now a 'super cyclone' and it is a serious issue, the only other cyclone of this magnitude was in Odisha in 1999 and it was very deadly," said National Disaster Response Force DG S.N. Pradhan.

"When 'Amphan' makes landfall on May 20 it will be an extremely severe cyclonic storm," aid Pradhan.

"Cyclone 'Amphan' will cause heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in coastal districts of West Bengal. West Bengal districts of East Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Kolkata are likely to be worst affected by cyclone," said government.

It is very likely to move north-northeastwards across northwest Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal – Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans during the Afternoon / Evening of 20th May 2020 as an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 165-175 kmph gusting to 195 kmph, said the Cyclone Warning Division of IMD.

Gale wind speed reaching 165 to 175 kmph gusting to 195 kmph very likely along and off east Medinipur and north & south 24 Parganas districts and 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph over Kolkata, Hoogli, Howrah and West Medinipur Districts of West Bengal during the time of landfall (20 May afternoon to night).

The cyclonic storm is also likely to impact North Odisha coastal districts including Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Bhadrak and Balasore districts.

Cyclone 'Amphan' has potential to cause extensive damage in coastal districts of West Bengal: govt

The India Meteorological Department has warned of storm surge of 4-6 meter height above astronomical tide and will inundate low lying coastal areas of WB during landfall.

PM Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a high-level meeting today to review the response measures against cyclone ‘Amphan’ developing in the Bay of Bengal. PM took full stock of the situation and reviewed the response preparedness as well as the evacuation plan presented by the NDRF.

"During the presentation of the response plan, DG NDRF (SN Pradhan) informed that 25 NDRF teams have been deployed on the ground while 12 others are ready in reserve. Twenty-four other NDRF teams are also on standby in different parts of the country," the statement said.

The prime minister said he "reviewed the preparedness regarding the situation due to cyclone 'Amphan'. The response measures as well as evacuation plans were discussed."

Click here to read the Mint ePaper Livemint.com is now on Telegram. Join Livemint channel in your Telegram and stay updated

Log in to our website to save your bookmarks. It'll just take a moment.

Your session has expired, please login again.

You are now subscribed to our newsletters. In case you can’t find any email from our side, please check the spam folder.