No impact of cyclone Phailin in West Bengal: Minister

Barring inundation of some low- lying areas in coastal West Bengal, there has been no impact of cyclone Phailin in the state, Disaster Management Minister Javed Khan said.

The restriction on people to stay indoors at Digha, Mandarmoni and Shankarpur in the coastal areas has been lifted as the "danger is over", he told PTI.

Disaster management and civil defence personnel were deployed in the coastal areas to deal with the impact of the cyclone after it made landfall in Odisha last night.

"We had posted disaster management, civil defence and rescue teams at Digha, Shankarpur, Contai, Mandarmoni, Diamond Harbour and some areas in the Sundarbans," Khan said.

Powerful cyclone Phailin last night pounded the Odisha coast with wind speeds of over 200kmph.

Massive evacuations were conducted in the eastern coastal states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha in a bid to avoid casualties in the cyclone.