The Tripura government has closed all educational institutions and Anganwadi centres for next two days due to the red alert by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)for cyclonic storm Remal.

An emergency meeting chaired by Chief Secretary J K Sinha advises precautionary measures. The Secretary of the Revenue department mentions safety protocols. Brijesh Pandy emphasizes preparedness for disaster response.

While, Pandey along with top officials of IMD and Disaster management addressing a press conference at Civil Secretariat on  Sunday afternoon said that  Remal is expected to make landfall at  around 11 PM on Sunday at Kendrapara of Odisha and Sagar Island of West Bengal resulting in heavy rainfall and thunderstorms accompanied by gusty wind across Tripura for next two days.

Currently maximum sustained wind speed of 110-120 kmph gusting to 135 kmph prevails around the cyclone centre.

Brijesh Pandey said that an emergency meeting of the State Level Disaster Management Authority under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary J K Sinha was held on Sunday, which advised the airport, railway authority and transport operators to inform the passengers in advance if their services are cancelled to ensure public safety.

He said that the teams of National Disaster Management Force (NDRF) have been directed to get ready in two southern districts of Tripura South Tripura and Gomati to respond immediately in case of any emergency and disaster as due to the proximity of Bay of Bengal the southern locations of the state would become vulnerable. He also said that fishermen were restricted from their movement in rivers, lakes and reservoirs till Tuesday.

While speaking in the press meet, director of IMD’s Agartala station, Dr Partha Roy said that in Tripura, an increase in rainfall actively accompanied with heavy rainfall and gusty wind at isolated places is to occur during May 26 to 29 under the influence of the cyclonic storm. The rainfall is expected to start in Tripura from May 26 midnight and will continue up to May 29 next.

He said that IMD has issued ‘Red’ alert for May 27 and predicted that thunderstorms with lightning and squally wind speed reaching 50-60 kmph gusting to 70 kmph and extremely heavy rainfall is very likely to occur at isolated places over Gomati and Sepahijala districts. The thunderstorm and lightning and squally wind speed gusting to 70kmph with heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely to occur at isolated places over South, Dhalai, Khowai and West districts of Tripura.

The Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram governments have issued separate advisories and asked the National Disaster Response Force, state disaster response forces, district administrations and other concerned wings to remain maximum vigilant and ready to meet any eventualities.

In light of the imminent weather threat, authorities emphasize the importance of preparedness. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for cyclones provide essential guidelines for emergency responses, the notification said.

The Tripura government in view of the cyclonic storm “Remal”, has closed all kinds of educational institutions including universities on May 27 and 28.

Brijesh Pandey said that in view of cyclone Remal's impact on the coastal region of West Bengal, including Kolkata, all kinds of flight operations were suspended till 9 AM on Monday.

However, the flight services on other routes -- Agartala-Guwahati, Agartala-Delhi, and Agartala-Bengaluru -- are operating normally.

This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal in this pre-monsoon season and named ‘Remal’ (pronounced as “Re-Mal” meaning sand in Arabic), according to a system of naming cyclones in the Indian Ocean region.