Cyclone Jawad has formed in the Bay of Bengal on Friday and is expected to reach Paradip, on the Odisha coast, by Sunday with winds expected to touch 90 kmph as well as heavy rains in Odisha, West Bengal, and north Andhra Pradesh over the weekend.
The India Meteorological Department said the cyclone will briefly gain in strength and become a ‘severe’ cyclonic storm, but is unlikely to make a conventional landfall. It is expected to skirt the coast near Paradip and plot a trajectory towards West Bengal.
Jawad currently lies about 650 km away from Paradip and is expected to reach the north Andhra Pradesh coast by Saturday noon.
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“This cyclone is expected to be much less intense than recent ones such as Titli, and nowhere near extreme ones such as Failin, Fani, Hudhud,” said Director General, IMD, M. Mohapatra at a press conference on Friday.
Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee to review the preparedness of States and Central ministries and agencies to deal with cyclone Jawad.
Cyclone shelters have been readied and evacuation of people from the low lying areas was being carried out.
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“All actions have been taken to stock food grains, drinking water and other essential supplies. Teams for maintenance and restoration of essential services have also been positioned” the Home Ministry said in a statement.
The National Disaster Response Force said it has deployed adequate number of teams in the States likely to be affected and as well as rescue and relief teams of the Army and Navy are on standby.