Cyclone 'Midhili' to bring rainfall in coastal West Bengal, Odisha on alert

The IMD said the cyclone Midhili will have no major impact on Odisha but the state machinery is on alert for any eventuality, the authorities said.

The deep depression over the Bay of Bengal on Friday intensified into a 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 named 'Midhili' will cross the Bangladesh coast during November 17 night or early hours of November 18, it said.

The system over the Bay of Bengal lay centered at 5.30 am on Friday at about 190 km east of Paradip (Odisha), 200 km south-southeast of Digha (West Bengal) and 220 km southwest of Khepupara (Bangladesh), the national weather agency 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 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 BoB. "We do not want to take any chance and therefore put the state machinery on alert for any eventuality," SRC Satyabrata Sahoo said.

However, the IMD forecast said West Bengal's coastal districts like North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, East Medinpur and Kolkata are likely to get rainfall in the range of 20 mm to 110 mm within 24 hours of Friday.

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