Port Blair, Mar 18 (PTI) With the year's first cyclone Asani brewing over the Bay of Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands MP Kuldeep Rai has urged Lieutenant Governor Admiral (Retd.) D K Joshi to put the disaster management machinery on high alert.

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He also urged Joshi to declare a holiday on March 19 and 21 in all schools and colleges. March 20 being Sunday is also a holiday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast that the low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal will become well-marked by March 20 morning and turn into a cyclonic storm on March 21.

It will move along and off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and reach the Bangladesh-north Myanmar coasts on March 22, the weatherman said.

The IMD advised fishermen to not venture into the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea during this period.

Citing the IMD warning, the MP, in a letter to the Lt. Governor, suggested that all tourism activities in the archipelago be suspended from March 19-22 as a precautionary measure.

If formed, the cyclonic storm will cause serious damage to the Union territory. Hence, the disaster management machinery be put on high alert and a sufficient number of officials deployed in remote islands to manage the situation effectively, he said.

Rai also requested Joshi to ensure the effective dissemination of information about weather conditions to the people.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)