The severe cyclonic storm Remal has weakened since making landfall last night and is expected to downgrade into a deep depression by this evening, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) announced on Monday. The NDRF made the announcement based on the latest update from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). “The current information that we have from the IMD is that the severe cyclonic storm has now transformed into a cyclonic storm.

The wind speed, which was earlier about 110 to 120 km/hr during landfall, now has come down to 60 to 70 km/hr,” National Disaster Response Force Deputy Inspector General Mohsen Shahedi told ANI when asked about the status of ‘Remal’ after its landfall.

 

Shahedi said “This is a big relief and it is expected that by evening today, this will further change into a deep depression.” Questioned about the loss of lives and damage, the NDRF officer said: “From the information that we have, one death has taken place in Kolkata due to wall collapse. Restoration work is in progress. NDRF teams are deployed, 14 teams are deployed in major affected areas in the State and six SDRF teams are also deployed to assist... Apart from 14 teams in West Bengal, we have one team in Tripura just as a precautionary measure.” Meanwhile, the North-East Frontier Railway (NFR), which operates in the northeastern States, seven districts of West Bengal, and five districts of north Bihar, cancelled 44 trains on Monday and Tuesday in view of the cyclonic storm Remal.