WB govt takes all precautionary measures for Cyclone Fani

With the IMD issuing a formal alert that Cyclone Fani is likely to hit the coastal areas of West Bengal, the state government has taken all precautionary measures to avert any untoward incident, officials said Tuesday.

The India Meteorological Department(IMD) has extended cyclone alert to north Andhra Pradesh coast and West Bengal coast, apart from Odisha, which it is expected to cross by Friday.

The state disaster management department in a message issued a warning to the fishermen asking them not to venture into the deep sea and urged those already there to return to the coast by Wednesday evening.

The MHA has released in advance fund for financial assistance to the state disaster management department for undertaking preventive and relief measures in response to Cyclonic storm Fani, officials said.

Of the total financial assistance of Rs 1,086 crore, Odisha will get Rs 340.87 crore, Tamil Nadu Rs 309.37 crore, West Bengal Rs 235.50 crore and Andhra Pradesh will get Rs 200.25 crore, a home ministry statement said.

The cylone is very likely to intensify further into an extremely severe cyclonic storm shortly, the IMD said in a bulletin in the evening.