Cyclone Asani rages in Bay of Bengal, heavy rain in parts of West Bengal

Asani, the severe cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal, packing gale force winds up to 120 km per hour, was moving towards coastal Andhra Pradesh and Odisha at a speed of 25 km per hour on Monday, but it is expected to weaken gradually over the next two days, the weather office has said.

The cyclone caused heavy rain in Kolkata on Monday morning and the India Meteorological Department has predicted thunderstorms in part of West Bengal

The cyclone is expected to weaken without making a landfall in Odisha or Andhra Pradesh.

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He had said the cyclone will move parallel to the east coast and cause rainfall from Tuesday evening.

The weather office said very high sea conditions were likely to prevail over west-central and adjoining south Bay of Bengal and asked fishermen not to venture out in the region for the next couple of days.