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Cyclone Amphan has begun to make landfall in West Bengal as strong winds and heavy rains lashed India's eastern coastline.
The India Meteorological Department said the landfall process began at 2:30pm (local time) Wednesday and is expected to continue for about four hours, reports bdnews24.com citing Indian news broadcaster NDTV reports.
The storm lost some of its intensity and was downgraded from a super cyclone to an "extremely severe cyclonic storm" on Tuesday as it advanced towards the Indian coast, according to the Indian Met Office.
It was centred over northwest Bay of Bengal, just 95 km from West Bengal's Digha town before it started making landfall.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has also raised the highest warning signal at the country's key ports as the cyclone bears down on the coast.
The cyclone is expected to cut its path through Bangladesh near the Sundarbans on Wednesday evening, according to the Met Office.