Asani weakens to cyclonic storm; Odisha, Bengal brace for heavy rain

TIL Desk/National/Bhubaneswar/ Several parts of Odisha and West Bengal are bracing for heavy rain as severe cyclone Asani weakened to a cyclonic storm on Wednesday, as it barrelled towards north coastal Andhra Pradesh, packing wind speed of 85 km per hour, the Met Department said. The weather system is likely to further lose steam and turn into a depression by Thursday morning, it said.

It is very likely to move nearly northwards for next few hour and recurve slowly north-northeastwards along Narsapur, Yanam, Kakinada, Tuni and Visakhapatnam coasts during noon to evening on Wednesday, and emerge into west central Bay of Bengal off North Andhra Pradesh coasts by night, the India Meteorological Department said in a bulletin.

The Odisha government has put five southern districts – Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Ganjam and Gajapati – on high alert, as they are likely to be affected by the cyclone that may touch land mass between Kakinada and Visakhapatnam, about 200 km from Odisha.Light to moderate rain or thundershower is likely to occur in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Nayagarh, Khurda, Puri, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, the Regional Meteorological Centre said.