Cabinet Secretary Gauba chairs high-level meeting over 'Bulbul'

During the high-level meeting of National Crisis Management Committee, Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has assured West Bengal and Odisha government of providing all necessary help to deal with cyclone 'Bulbul.' IMD has maintained that the cyclone is likely to cross West Bengal coast on Sunday and extremely heavy rainfall is expected across the region.

New Delhi:Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a high-level meeting of National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) on Friday to review the preparedness to deal with severe cyclone 'Bulbul' over the Bay of Bengal which is likely to affect coastal districts of West Bengal and Odisha.

Official sources said that Gauba has advised the states to take all necessary measures to avoid casualties and assured them of all possible assistance from the Centre.

Senior officials from Home Ministry, Defence Ministry, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), NDRF, NDMA were present during the meeting. Senior officials from West Bengal and Odisha also participated in the meeting through video conference.

"West Bengal government was specifically directed to ensure that people in low lying areas in Sagar islands, East Medinipur and North and South 24 Paragana districts are evacuated to prevent any loss of life," officials said.

As many as 14 teams of NDRF have already been positioned in different locations of West Bengal and Odisha.

The Meteorological Department on Friday said that the cyclone has intensified and is likely to cross the West Bengal coast by the early morning of Sunday.

Heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, accompanied by winds reaching up to 110-120 kmph and tidal waves up to 1.5 meters are expected, IMD warned.

Read:| Odisha gears up to face Cyclone Bulbul