Cyclone Sitrang to intensify into severe cyclonic storm in next 12 hours; IMD issues updates 

Cyclone Sitrang: The deep depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclone on Sunday evening and is very likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday.

The storm was currently lying 430 km south of Sagar Island (West Bengal) and 580 km southwest Barisal, Bangladesh. The cyclonic storm, which is named 'Sitrang' as suggested by Thailand, will cross Bangladesh's coast between Tinkona Island and Sandwip tomorrow morning (Tuesday, 25th October).

Due to this weather system, heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in the coastal districts of West Bengal and Odisha.

For West Bengal, the weather office has issued a yellow alert for two districts - North and South 24 Parganas - on Monday, and an orange alert for four districts on Tuesday. North & South 24 Parganas and East & West Medinipur are likely to be hit hard by heavy to very heavy rain on Tuesday.

Besides these, the capital city Kolkata, Howrah, and Hooghly are likely to receive moderate rain on Monday and Tuesday.

The IMD has issued a yellow alert for six coastal districts - Baleshwar, Bhadrak, Jajapur, Kendrapara, Cuttak, and Jagatsinghpur - of Odisha.

Deputy Director-General of the Regional Met Centre in Kolkata Sanjib Bandopadhyay on Sunday said that Sitrang will mainly affect the Sunderbans spread over West Bengal and Bangladesh as tidal waves are likely to reach a height of six meters.

The system, which is currently lying 430 km south of Sagar Island and 580 km southwest of Barisal, will make landfall between Tinkona island and Sandwip near Barisal in the early morning of Tuesday.

The district administration of South 24 Parganas has already moved 10,000 people to safer places, and it was working on shifting another 30,000 people.

District Sumit Gupta told news agency PTI that seven teams of NDRF and SDRF with 26 personnel in each team were on standby in the district. He said the administration was also ensuring the safety of domestic animals.

The weather office has warned that wind speed over sea areas will reach a speed of 90 to 100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph in the north Bay of Bengal. It suspended all offshore activities on October 24 and 25 and has also advised fishermen not to venture into the sea.

The office has advised the suspension of ferry services in Sunderbans and water-bound tourist activities at the seaside resort towns of Digha, Mandarmoni, Shankarpur, Bakkhali, and Sagar on October 24 and 25.  

With inputs from PTI