North-East States On Alert As Cyclonic Storm "Sitrang" Approaches

A deep depression over Bay of Bengal has intensified into a cyclonic storm "Sitrang", the Indian Meteorological Department, or IMD, said today.

The cyclone, named Sitrang by Thailand, will reach the West Bengal-Bangladesh coast on Tuesday, the IMD said.

The weather office said the north-east region is likely to be affected with heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, with wind speeds up to 60 kmph on Monday.

Tripura would be worst affected with maximum rainfall expected up to 200 mm in 24 hours, the IMD said.

A "red alert" has been issued for Tripura, Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland. An "orange alert" has been issued for Arunachal Pradesh and West Bengal.

The Tripura government has ordered all educational institutes to remain shut till October 26.

The National Disaster Response Force, or NDRF, in the north-east states likely to be affected by the cyclonic storm is on standby, officials said.

The state governments have asked the NDRF authority to deploy additional forces in areas where heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur.

Three southern Assam districts -- Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi; all 11 districts of Mizoram, all eight districts of Tripura and most of the 16 districts of Nagaland are on "red alert".

The Tripura government has cancelled the leaves of all officials for the next one week.

The Tripura government has taken some steps including regulation of movement of vehicles across the state on October 25 and 26, opening of adequate number of relief with adequate quantities of relief materials, etc.