The government has cancelled weekly holidays—and kept the secretariat plus all other government offices concerned, open, on Friday—in 19 of the country's coastal districts, because Cyclone Fani is likely to make landfall in the evening.
The Ministry and Disaster Management and Relief, Ministry of Shipping, and other ministries related to disaster management—in the districts concerned— will be open on Friday and Saturday.
The Ministry of Housing and Public Works issued a press release on Thursday stating that holidays of the officials, and employees concerned, in the 19 coastal districts, have been cancelled.
Earlier, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) cancelled physicians' holidays in districts and upazilas that Cyclone Fani could hit.
Additionally, 2,362 medical teams have been formed to combat the effects Cyclone Fani in the Barisal, Chittagong, and Khulna divisions.
Severe cyclonic storm Fani—brewing over the Bay of Bengal—is drawing closer and is likely to hit Bangladesh by Friday night; striking Khulna and adjoining southwestern coastal districts — and possibly causing severe damage.
Fani—poised to be the strongest cyclone to hit Bangladesh and India in over a decade—is expected to result in heavy rainfall and cause significant destruction in parts of Bangladesh between Friday and Saturday, weather forecasters have predicted.
Bangladeshi authorities have taken up all-out efforts to minimize the damage from the cyclone, which will cross over Bangladesh after striking the Indian state of Odisha.
