Cyclone 'Midhili' to make landfall in Bangladesh coast, fishermen warned not to venture into sea

Bhubaneswar/Kolkata: The deep depression over the Bay of Bengal on Friday intensified into cyclonic storm and will graze past the Sunderbans before making landfall on Bangladesh coast with a maximum wind speed of 80 kmph, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a bulletin.

The cyclonic storm 'Midhili' will cross the Bangladesh coast on November 17 night or early hours of November 18, it said.

The Met department on Friday warned fishermen not to venture into the sea in north Bay of Bengal and along and off West Bengal coasts till November 18.

The deep depression existing over north Bay of Bengal intensified into cyclonic storm Midhili as it moved in a north-northeaster ward direction, lying 200 km south-southeast of the seaside resort town of Digha in West Bengal and 220 km southeast of Khepupara in Bangladesh on Friday morning, the Met said.

"It is likely to continue to move north-northeastwards and cross Bangladesh coast close to Khepupara with wind speed of 60-70 kmph gusting to 80 kmph during November 17 night or early hours of November 18," the IMD said.

The name 'Midhili' was given by the Maldives. Countries affected by the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal cyclones rotationally give names of cyclones in a sequence.

The Met department warned fishermen not to venture into the sea in north Bay of Bengal and along and off West Bengal coasts till Saturday.

The IMD said the cyclone Midhili will have no major impact on Odisha as it passes above 150 kilometres from the state's coast. However, some districts like Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur likely to get heavy rainfall on Friday, IMD scientist Umashankar Das said.

Meanwhile, Odisha's Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) has put all the District Collectors on alert in the wake of the cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. "We do not want to take any chance and therefore put the state machinery on alert for any eventuality," SRC Satyabrata Sahoo said.

The cyclonic storm is likely to bring heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of West Bengal and in the northeastern states, the Met said.

It is likely to bring isolated heavy downpour in West Bengal's coastal districts of Purba Medinipur, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas on Friday, the weather office said.

It said that the system is likely to bring very heavy rainfall in the northeastern states of Mizoram and Tripura on Friday and in Nagaland, Manipur, south Assam and east Meghalaya till Saturday.

This is the second deep depression during this season. The previous cyclone Hamoon also headed towards the Bangladesh coast.