Bengal braces for cyclonic storm, schools to close from Oct 23-26: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the state administration was ready to respond to any disaster that could occur due to an impending cyclone and announced that primary and secondary schools in nine districts would remain closed from Wednesday to October 26 as a precautionary measure. She said teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and SDRF have already been deployed and integrated control rooms, at both state and district levels, become functional 24X7. A well-marked low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression on Tuesday as it rolled towards the eastern coast with the likelihood of turning into a severe cyclonic storm, the IMD said. "Our government is ready to face this cyclonic storm. We have already started integrated control rooms at state and district levels and they are working 24X7. As a precautionary measure, fishermen have been asked not to venture into the seas. Public address systems are in place in the ...