Cyclone Sitrang spares Kolkata, heads to Bangladesh for early landfall

KOLKATA: The city heaved a sigh of relief as Cyclone Sitrang started moving away from Kolkata around Monday afternoon.
Kolkata, however, remained overcast the entire day, with spells of light rain and a moderate wind speed ranging between 30kmph and 40kmph, gusting up to 50kmph. The drizzle is predicted to continue till early on Tuesday.

"The worst is over for Kolkata though we expect light rain till early on Tuesday. But by office hours on Tuesday morning, the weather should be fair with the rain fizzling out. Kolkata was never in the direct path of the cyclone and so, the prediction has been light to moderate rain," said G K Das, director (weather) at Regional Met Centre Kolkata.
Though the city was spared any major disruption, Kolkata-Howrah ferry services were suspended as a precaution. Sources said the suspension in services would be extended till Tuesday. Street lights along many roads were switched off for a few hours to prevent electrocution. But as the wind speed lowered and there was no threat of flooding, the lights were switched on again. CESC patrol teams will be deployed on Tuesday so that power lines can be snapped in case of heavy rain or waterlogging. "Around 200 additional teams will patrol the city. For heavy rain and waterlogging, the teams will assess the situation and take action," a CESC official said. Senior officials will man the control room. "Nodal officers are in touch with all major puja committees," the official added.
A deep depression over west-central and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal had intensified as cyclonic storm Sitrang by Sunday evening. Even as the system initially moved at 10kmph-15kmph, by Monday morning it had gained a speed of 31kmph. The closest Cyclone Sitrang came to Kolkata was about 300km from Sagar Island in the Sudarbans area in the afternoon. Since then, it started moving away from the city.
According to the IMD prediction, the system will continue to move in the north-northeast direction and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm, likely to cross the Bangladesh coast and make a landfall between Tinkona Island and Sandwip close to Barisal around Monday midnight.
"The earlier prediction of the landfall was early on Tuesday. But since it is moving at a faster speed, the time of landfall has been advanced by about six to seven hours. The cyclonic storm's speed has been accelerated under the influence of a north-west trough," added Das. Places in the Sundarbans were raided by strong wind, gusting up to 80kmph. Sources in the Met office said the Sundarbans would continue to be under watch as Sitrang would have its effect on the Delta as long as the cyclone remained on the sea.