Cyclone Yaas is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours and will make its landfall on West Bengal and Odisha on Wednesday, IMD stated.
Yaas will bring winds of speed of up to 180 kms per hour and is expected to be as intense as Cyclone Tauktae.
It will intensify into very severe cyclonic storm when it hits the land in the next 48 hours, the weather department said.
The cyclonic storm is currently about 600 km of Port Blair, the IMD said in a update on Monday morning.
The governments of Bengal and Odisha are on high alert for the very severe cyclonic storm that will bring winds with a speed ranging 155-165 kmph and gusting to 185 kmph.
In both the states, the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF, the military and the Coast Guard have been deployed.
Of 85 NDRF teams, 32 have been deployed in Bengal and 28 in Odisha. Some teams have also been deployed in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Home Minister Amit Shah will hold a meeting today with the chief ministers of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands to review the preparations
This is the second review meeting to be held in view of the cyclone in two days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, held a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of the state and central agencies on Sunday.
