Cyclone Fani moving towards Bangladesh, no major impact in Bengal
Kolkata: People of West Bengal heaved a sigh of relief as severe cyclonic storm Fani weakened on Saturday morning and was moving towards neighbouring Bangladesh, a senior official of the regional meteorological centre said.
The city witnessed wind speeds of 30-40 kmph with moderate to heavy rainfall overnight, he said. There was no report of any casualty or major damage in the districts through which the cyclone passed, officials said.
"Fani is likely to continue to move north-northeastwards and weaken further over the next six hours.
"It is very likely to move further north-northeastwards and enter Bangladesh around noon as a deep depression with wind speeds of 50-60 kmph, gusting to 70 kmph," Deputy Director General of the Regional Meteorological Centre here Sanjib Bandyopadhyay told PTI.
The very severe cyclonic storm weakened into a severe cyclonic storm over the Odisha coast, before moving further north-northeastwards and entering West Bengal through Kharagpur in West Midnapore around 12.30 am on Saturday.
"It has moved to Arambagh in Hooghly and is now in Nadia district...and is moving towards Murshidabad district," Bandyopadhyay said.
A senior official said apart from a few mud houses collapsing and tress falling, there were no reports of casualties from any of the districts. "However, we are awaiting further details," he added.
Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, along with senior engineers of the civic body and local councillors, was on a night-long vigil in and around the city to keep a tab on the situation
"We had made arrangements to act on an emergency basis had Fani hit the city. But thank god nothing major has happened," Hakim told PTI.
Meanwhile, flight operations resumed at the Kolkata airport at 9.57 am on Saturday, an Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said. Flight services were suspended at the airport from 3 pm on Friday.
Train services on the Sealdah and Howrah sections were also getting back to normal, the officials said.
Five persons were injured when a portion of the roof of a hutment collapsed on Friday night in the central part of the city's Beniatola Lane, police said.
All the five injured persons were released after treatment.
The West Bengal government had taken precautionary measures in East and West Midnapore, North and South 24 Pargana districts, besides Howrah, Hooghly, Jhargram, Kolkata and the Sundarbans.
The cyclone barrelled through Odisha on Friday, unleashing copious rain and windstorm that gusted up to 175 kmph, killing at least eight people, blowing away thatched houses and swamping towns and villages.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
