Kolkata: A very severe cyclonic storm 'Bulbul' over the Bay of Bengal is likely to make landfall between West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts by late Saturday evening or night, bringing in its wake very heavy rain and gale wind of up to 135 km per hour along the coastline, the MeT department said here.
With the weatherman apprehending that the severity of 'Bulbul' will cause damage to kutcha houses, roads, communication and power lines along its path in the coastal and adjoining districts of West Bengal, the state government has put in place measures to tackle the evolving situation.
'Bulbul', centered 190 km south-southwest of Sagar Islands at 5.30 am on Saturday, is likely to weaken gradually and cross the coast between Sagar Islands of West Bengal and Khepupara in Bangladesh with a reduced force as a severe cyclonic storm, the MeT department said.
It is likely to make landfall by the late evening or night of Saturday with a maximum sustained wind speed of 110 to 120 km per hour with gusts of up to 135 km per hour that will prevail from Saturday afternoon for next 12 hours along and off East Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas and Howrah, the MeT said.
It said that squally wind of 50 to 60 km per hour with gusts up to 70 km per hour is likely over adjoining districts of West Midnapore, Kolkata and Hooghly from Saturday morning and from the afternoon in Nadia and Murshidabad.
Heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy rain at one or two places have been forecast in the affected areas.
The weatherman said that damage to properties and infrastructure is likely in the districts of East Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia and Murshidabad.