Cyclone Aila Alert in West Bengal

Cyclone Aila, that generated in the east of Paradip,  is  expected to make landfall on the West Bengal coast this afternoon at more than 140 kilometer per hour.

According to the Meteorological Department heavy rains and gale winds are likely to sweep over Bangladesh and West Bengal in the next 24 hours.

West Bengal government has declared a red alert in the state. The army has been put on alert. State finance minister Ashim Dasgupta said the government is readying for emergency relief operations.  Kanti Ganguly, minister for Sunderban development, Abdur Rezzak Mollah, land and land reforms minister, and Subhas Naskar, state irrigation minister, have been put in charge of district relief operations.

The chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee held a high level meeting at Writers' Building today to take stock of the situation.

Two persons were killed in tree collapse as a severe storm with a windspeed of 80 km per hour hit Kolkata and its neighbouring districts as a precursor to the cyclone. The Kolkata Police has urged all schools to declare a holiday after 2 o' clock. Many offices in the city declared a holiday following weather alerts.