West Bengal govt on watch after IMD spots Bay of Bengal system

KOLKATA: The Met office is closely tracking a weather system that is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal by May 8 and can intensify into a cyclonic storm. A US weather forecast model has predicted a cyclonic storm by May 11.
But the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is yet to issue such a forecast. As of now, IMD has predicted the chance of a low-pressure area forming over the Bay of Bengal. The state government has already started working on pre-emptive measures.

“We are expecting a low-pressure area over the southern part of Bay of Bengal by May 8 with the chance of this system intensifying further. As of now, there is much divergence on whether it will be a cyclonic storm or not and also which direction it will proceed if it is a cyclone. We should be more definite about it by Thursday,” said GK Das, director (weather) at Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata.
If it is a cyclone, it will be named Mocha, a name given by Yemen.
Sources in IMD said some cyclonic storms formed in May over the past few years have had direct or indirect impact in Bengal. Hence, the Met office is working closely with the state government by updating its prediction on a regular basis.
“Some cyclonic storms like Yaas, Amphan, Aila all struck in May. Some factors like high sea surface temperature and reduced wind shear around this time of the year make conditions favourable for formation of cyclonic storms over the Bay of Bengal,” added Das.
The state has started meeting all stakeholders to protect life and minimise destruction. On Tuesday, chief secretary H K Dwivedi held a meeting with the state disaster management group, NDRF, Coast Guard and Disaster, NDFR and Coastal Police to draw a plan for preparedness.
The DMs of the coastal districts were alerted and asked to give detail of the inventories of relief materials. The control room of Nabanna will be operative round the clock during the time of possible cyclonic storm. State disaster management department minister Javed Khan said: “We have already made a plan to send our workforce and relief materials to the coastal areas. The team members will be armed with all necessary equipment to combat the after-effects of a cyclonic storm,” said Khan.
Meanwhile the city and other parts of Bengal will continue to get thunder shower activities on Wednesday, which will not let the mercury shoot up. At 34.8°C, Kolkata’s maximum temperature on Tuesday was a notch below normal while the minimum temperature — at 23.3°C — was three degrees below normal.