PM Modi to chair meeting with MHA, NDMA over Cyclone Amphan today
May 18, 2020
New Delhi [India], May 18 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a high-level meeting on Monday with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) over the situation surrounding Cyclone Amphan.
The meeting, scheduled to be conducted at 4 pm, is being held to review the arising cyclone situation in parts of the country.
Cyclone Amphan in the Bay of Bengal has intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm at 2:30 am on Monday, it is expected to further intensify into a super cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours, said Mrutyunjaya Mohapatra, India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director-General.
Speaking to ANI, Mohapatra said, "It will move towards north-northeast direction and cross Digha (West Bengal)-Hathiya island (Bangladesh) on the afternoon/evening of May 20 with a wind speed of 155-165 kmph."
The IMD has issued a rainfall warning for the next four days in the light of very severe cyclonic storm Amphan, for isolated places over the districts of Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara. Rainfall is likely to commence from the evening of May 18.
