The Bengal government has evacuated more than 3 lakh people living in the low lying areas of three coastal districts of East Midnapore, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas ahead of cyclone Amphan that will hit the areas on Wednesday.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee held a video conference with officials of all districts on Tuesday afternoon to take a stock of preparedness at the grassroots level.

She warned the district authorities that the cyclone could leave the worst impact on South 24-Parganas. Besides, districts like East Midnapore, North 24-Parganas, Calcutta, Howrah and Hooghly would also bear the brunt of the destruction.

“From tomorrow noon, the effect of the cyclone would be visible and around 2pm, the cyclone is likely to hit Sagar Island,” said the chief minister.

Mamata said more than 3 lakh people were taken to cyclone shelters or temporary arrangements set up in schools in the nearby areas to prevent the loss of life.

According to the figures available with the state administration, almost 2 lakh people were evacuated from several coastal areas of South 24-Parganas, while 50,000 people were shifted in North 24-Parganas. About 40,000 people were evacuated in East Midnapore and 10,000 people were taken to shelters in West Midnapore.

The chief minister instructed the district magistrates of the three coastal districts to persuade more people living in vulnerable areas to shift to the cyclone shelters so that loss of life could be averted.

She appealed to people not to go out of homes or shelters between Wednesday noon and Thursday morning as the cyclone could hit in three phases.

“First, the head of the cyclone would hit and then its eye. Finally its tail would hit. It has been seen that the maximum damage was done by the tail of a cyclone as people came out of their shelters after first two phases had hit,” said the chief minister reiterating that people should stay inside until the tail passes.

Mamata laid stress on keeping social distancing in the cyclone shelters and asked the district magistrates to

provide masks to all the evacuees. She also asked the district authorities to stock enough baby food and dry food for the affected. Besides, proper toilet facilities have to be arranged by the district authorities.

A total of 15 NDRF and SDRF teams have been deployed in the districts where the cyclone is likely to create trouble.

Mamata, however, asked chief secretary Rajiva Sinha to get in touch with the railway authorities to ensure that no train ferrying migrant workers reached Bengal on Wednesday as the authorities would be busy in tackling the impacts of the cyclone.

“It needs a series of activities once a train with migrant workers reaches the state. As it would be tough to carry out the activities during the cyclone, the state proposed that trains scheduled to reach Bengal on Wednesday be deferred from the originating stations,” said a senior official.

In case of Calcutta, the municipal corporation authorities have kept arrangements ready to accommodate 6,000 people living in dangerous buildings or in low lying areas in several community halls across the city.

The chief minister asked the district authorities of South 24-Parganas to focus on areas like Sagar, Gosaba, Mousumi island, Namkhana, Ghoramari, Basnti and Canning as these could be the worst-affected areas.

In the North 24-Parganas districts, Hasnabad, Basirhat and Sandeshkhali are being considered as the areas where the cyclone could lave a severe impact along with areas like Ramnagar, Khejuri and Sutahata in East Midnapore.

Sources said the state government was worried after it received warning that the cyclone was likely to hit Sagar because the effect of Aila was yet to be overcome in this part of the state.

“Many of the river embankments were yet to be repaired properly. The farmlands were yet to get rid of salinity since the sea water had entered in the villages during Aila. If a similar kind of cyclone is set to hit the places, it would take years to recover,” said an official.

Mamata said Union home minister Amit Shah had called her up on Tuesday to discuss the possible impact of cyclone Amphan.

“The home minister called me to discuss cyclone Amphan. I said we had handled Bulbul recently and everything is in place in Bengal (to deal with cyclone Amphan),” said Mamata.