Cyclone Midhili Latest Updates:   The depression forming over the Bay of Bengal for the last three days intensified into a cyclonic storm on Friday, according to a bulletin released by India Meteorological Department (IMD). Named Cyclone Midhili, this storm would closely rustle the Sunderbans before making landfall on the Bangladesh coast with a maximum wind speed of 80 kmph, reported PTI.

IMD has predicted that 'Midhili' would cross the Bangladesh Coast on the night of November 17 or the wee hours of November 18. Notably, Maldives has given the name Midhili to the cyclone following a naming convention, according to which the countries which share boundaries with the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal rotationally provide names for the cyclones which arise out of the two seas.

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IMD further noted that the cyclone was positioned in the Bay of Bengal lay at about 190 km east of Paradip (Odisha), 200 km south-southeast of Digha (West Bengal) and 220 km southwest of Khepupara (Bangladesh), at 5.30 am on Friday.

"It is likely to continue to move north-northeastwards and cross Bangladesh coast close to Khepupara with wind speed of 60-70 kmph gusting to 80 kmph during November 17 night or early hours of November 18," the IMD said.

Odisha To Witness Heavy Rainfall

Some districts like Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur are likely to get heavy rainfall on Friday, IMD said in its regular bulletin. IMD scientist Umashankar Das said that the cyclone will not have any major impact on coastal Odisha as it will pass away at a distance of 150 kilometres from the state's coast. Although there are no major impact predictions for the state of Odisha, the state Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) has put all the District Collectors on alert for Midhili.

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"We do not want to take any chance and therefore put the state machinery on alert for any eventuality," SRC Satyabrata Sahoo said.

Rains Predicted For West Bengal
IMD has forecasted rainfall for West Bengal's coastal districts like North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, East Medinpur and Kolkata in the range of 20 mm to 110 mm within 24 hours of Friday.