Top officials from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) briefed the media over cyclone Amphan on Tuesday and said that Amphan will be ‘extremely severe cyclonic storm’ when it makes landfall on May 20. NDRF Director General SN Pradhan said that there are 24 teams on standby and every battalion that has been deployed has 4 teams. IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said Amphan is the most intense cyclone and the second super cyclone which has been formed in the Bay of Bengal after 1999. Pradhan informed that 15 teams are deployed in Odisha currently. “They are carrying out awareness drives, communication drives, and evacuation. 19 teams are deployed in West Bengal, 2 in standby there.” he said.
The NDRF chief added that the country is facing a dual challenge of Covid-19 and cyclone Amphan. Mohapatra said, in West Bengal, the cyclone could affect districts like North and South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore districts. Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah and West Midnapore districts will face wind speed of 110-120 kmph gusting up to 135 kmph, he added. Telecom secretary Anshu Prakash said that SMS alerts are being generated for people in affected districts for evacuation purposes. “It is up to state governments to decide the frequency of those alerts. It’s free of cost. It’ll be in local languages,” Prakash said.