Kolkata, May 28 (PTI) The West Bengal government has started moving people from low-lying areas and deployed disaster management personnel in the coastal districts amid a forecast for heavy rains due to a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal, an official said on Wednesday.

Offs of all officers in these districts have been cancelled in the wake of the forecast, he said.

Also Read | Earthquake in Manipur: 3 Quakes, Strongest One Being 5.2 Magnitude on Richter Scale, Rock State; No Damage or Casualties Reported.

Disaster management and civil defence personnel have been deployed in Shankarpur, Digha and Tajpur in Purba Medinipur district, and Namkhana, Gangasagar, Pathar Pratima and Kakdwip in the South 24 Parganas district, he said.

"We have taken all sorts of measures in the coastal areas. People in the low-lying areas have been shifted to shelters, in schools and hotels. An adequate number of tarpaulins, medicines for snakebite, and dry food have been sent to these places as a part of the precautionary measure," the official said.

Also Read | COVID-19 Death in Chennai: 60-Year-Old Man Undergoing Treatment for Coronavirus at Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital Dies.

The administration is also making announcements on loudspeakers, asking the people in these areas to remain alert for the next three days, he said.

Fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea, and tourists have also been directed to stay away from the beaches, he added.

"Control rooms have been set up in all 13 blocks of the Sundarbans in addition to the one at the sub-divisional office," an officer of the Sundarbans police district said.

The Irrigation Department was also alerted and asked to take measures to maintain the embankments during this period, he said.

The well-marked low-pressure area is likely to concentrate into a depression over the north Bay of Bengal during the next 24 hours, according to the IMD.

Under its impact, thundershower is very likely at most places in southern West Bengal on Thursday, with heavy to very heavy rainfall in Purba Bardhaman, Purba Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia and Murshidabad districts.

(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)