The India Meteorological Department said on Saturday that cyclone Jawad is expected to weaken further and continue to move north-northeastward along the Odisha coast towards the West Bengal coast.

“It is likely to weaken gradually and move northwards during the next 12 hours and then north-northwards along the Odisha coast, reaching close to Puri… as a deep depression,” the Met department said.

The IMD Weather Scientist US Dash of the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, said that the system is likely to hit the Puri coast (Odisha) as a deep depression after getting weakened inside the sea during its journey to the shore.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government on Saturday evacuated thousands of  people in South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts and urged tourists in popular sea resorts to stay away from beaches, to safeguard them from the fallout of cyclone 'Jawad' which will first hit Odisha-Andhra Pradesh coast.

There was light rainfall in Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Howrah and Hooghly districts received light rainfall since morning.

Earlier on Friday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had kept ready for deployment as many as 64 teams to tackle the situation arising out of the cyclonic storm in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

The Konark festival and International Sand Art festival have been cancelled in Odisha. Warning has also been issued for those living in low-lying areas. They should be shifted to safer places.

Heavy rain and high-speed winds are expected to hit the region.