Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s trip to the districts has been deferred by a week for her to monitory Cyclone Asani that might hit the coastal districts of Bengal and trigger heavy rainfall and strong winds from May 10 to 13.

Mamata had announced on May 5 that she would visit West Midnapore and Jhargram for three days starting May 10 to hold administrative and political meetings.

“As per the Met department forecast, Cyclone Asani will not make landfall in Bengal but the state will witness heavy rainfall and high-velocity winds. The chief minister wants to monitor the situation from Calcutta and has wished to change her plan to visit the districts.

As of now, Mamata will tour the two Jungle Mahal districts from May 17,” said a senior state government official in Calcutta.

As per the forecast, Gangetic Bengal, including Calcutta, will witness heavy rainfall from May 10 to 13 and the situation will be worse in coastal districts such as North and South 24-Parganas and East Midnapore. However, the situation may change depending on the course the cyclone takes.

Mamata was scheduled to hold a meeting with officials of West Midnapore on May 10 and had planned to meet Trinamul’s booth-level workers and panchayat members the next day. She had planned similar meetings in Jhargram on May 11 and 12.

Sources in Trinamul said that apart from the administrative meetings, the political sessions were important as Mamata wanted direct feedback from grassroots workers in the run-up to the panchayat polls next year.

Sources pointed out that the chief minister had monitored earlier calamities from the control room at Nabanna.

“During Cyclone Amphan and Yaas, the chief minister had spent the night at Nabanna. This time too, she wants to monitor the situation from the central control room at Nabanna,” said a senior official.