Cyclone Yaas begins landfall with wind speed of 130-140 kmph
Kolkata/Bhubaneshwar/Dhamra/Digha, May 26: The cyclone Yaass landfall has begun near Dhamra port in Odisha at 9.15 am on Wednesday, even as strong winds and heavy tides saw seawater ingress in many coastal towns and villages in Odisha and West Bengal ahead of the landfall.
The landfall process has begun and will take 3-4 hours to complete the process. The maximum impact will be in Balasore and Bhadrak district, Odishas Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena told reporters.
He said the location of the landfall is north of Dhamra and south of Bahanaga close to Bahanaga block on the coast.
Jena said about 5.80 lakh people in vulnerable areas of Odisha have been shifted to safe shelters. West Bengal government had on Tuesday also reported that 9 lakh people have been evacuated to storm shelters.
Though IMD had earlier Tuesday forecast that the wind speed during landfall would be around 155 to 165 kmph to gusting 185 kmph, the Doppler RADAR data now indicates the wind speed to be 130-140 kmph gusting to 155 kmph.
Jena said the landfall of Cyclone Yaas has been delayed for some hours with the systems velocity decreasing to 12 kmph from 15 to 16 kmph. He said the cyclone has not intensified further after 2 am.
Since there has been a fall in intensification, we expect the wind speed to be around 130-140 kmph at the time of landfall instead of 165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph, he said.
Five sub-divisions and blocks of West Bengal and four of Odisha are expected to be inundated with the most inundation in Bhadrak district of up to 9 km inland. The reason behind such a high storm surge is also partially due to full-moon activity, according to Met department officials.
Sub-districts and blocks expected to be hit by seawater ingress Baleshwar, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Kanthi, Diamond harbour, Basirhat, Tamluk, Uluberia. Scenes of sea water gushing through the streets of Digha were witnessed as of earthmovers and jeeps over-turning as tidal water came in from the sea.
The Met department in Kolkata said the maximum wind speed in the city reached 62 kmph. The maximum wind speed in the coastal resort town of Digha in East Midnapore reached around 90 km per hour.
Several low-lying areas in South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore were inundated owing to high tidal waves.
Several embankments, including 51 in East Midnapore, have been breached as the water level in the rivers in the coastal areas rose, officials and eye-witnesses said.
The Met department also warned of tidal waves of two- four metres height above astronomical tide to inundate low- lying coastal areas of East Midnapore, and of two metres aboveastronomical tide in low-lying areas of South 24 Parganas.
Most parts of West Bengal and Odisha also received heavy overnight rains.
The Met department had earlier warned of tidal waves of two to four metres height above astronomical tide to inundate low lying coastal areas of East Midnapore and of two metres above astronomical tide in low lying areas of South 24 Parganas around the time of landfall of 'Yaas'.
About 404 rescue teams including 52 from the NDRF, 60 from the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), 205 Fire service teams and 86 groups of tree-cutters have been deployed in the vulnerable districts of Odisha.
West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh too have deployed large numbers of disaster relief personnel, police and fire brigade for rescue operations.
The Eastern Command of the Indian Army, on requisition, is also working in coordination with the West Bengal government and has deployed a total of 17 cyclone relief columns, comprising specialised army personnel with associated equipment and inflatable boats.
Meanwhile, at least two persons were electrocuted to death and around 80 houses partly damaged after a storm, which West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee described as a "tornado", hit Hooghly and North 24 Parganas districts on Tuesday.
Rain and gusty winds hit Odisha's Bhadrak district; visuals from Dhamara coastal area #CycloneYaas pic.twitter.com/A63Sn3iCvZ
— ANI (@ANI) May 26, 2021
#WATCH | West Bengal: Water from the sea enters residential areas along New Digha Sea Beach in East Midnapore.
— ANI (@ANI) May 26, 2021
Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Yaas centred about 50 km South-Southeast of Balasore (Odisha). Landfall process has commenced around 9 am, says IMD. #CycloneYaas pic.twitter.com/8m667Py8Ec
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Nadda's letter to Kharge full of falsehoods: Congress
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday hit back at BJP president J P Nadda over his allegation that the opposition party was pushing a politically motivated narrative on the issue of Manipur, saying his letter to Mallikarjun Kharge is a "4D exercise - denial, distortion, distraction, and defamation".
Nadda on Friday accused the Congress of pushing an "incorrect, false and politically" motivated narrative on the issue of Manipur unrest, as he hit back at Kharge for seeking President Droupadi Murmu's intervention and alleging the Centre's complete failure in defusing the crisis.
In a rejoinder to Kharge, Nadda claimed the repercussions of the Congress's "abject failure" in dealing with local issues in Manipur when it was in power are being felt even today.
Hitting back at Nadda, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "Congress President Kharge ji wrote to the President of India on Manipur. Apparently to counter that letter, the BJP President has now written to the Congress President."
"Naddaji's letter is, not surprisingly, full of falsehoods and is a 4D exercise - denial, distortion, distraction, and defamation," he said in a post on X.
The people of Manipur are yearning for normalcy, peace, and harmony to return to the state at the earliest, Ramesh said.
"Towards this end they are asking four simple questions: When will the PM visit the state? How much longer will the CM continue to be inflicted on the state, when a majority of MLAs are not in his support? When will a full-time Governor for the state be appointed? When will the Union Home Minister take responsibility for his abject failures in Manipur?" Ramesh said.
In his letter, Nadda told Kharge what is shocking is how repeated attempts are being made by the Congress party to sensationalise the situation in Manipur, he told Kharge.
He said Kharge seemed to have forgotten that not only did his government legitimise the illegal migration of foreign militants to India, the then home minister P Chidambaram had signed treaties with them.
The Congress has been attacking the prime minister for not visiting Manipur, besides slamming the Centre for its handling of the situation in the ethnic strife-torn northeastern state.
More than 220 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.
