Just a little less than a decade after Orissa was hit by the mother of all cyclones, the weather gods are frowning again — this time on both Bengal and Orissa.

A 'very severe cyclonic storm' is expected to hit the West Bengal-Bangladesh coast near Sagar Island early on Friday. Kolkata, already plagued by the political storm over Nandigram, may have to contend with one more natural and fierce from Thursday evening.

The Centre has put the eastern coast on alert, asking both Orissa and Bengal to keep a close watch and take precautionary measures. In Bengal, a cyclone alert was issued for South and North 24-Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Howrah and Hooghly.

On Wednesday morning, the cyclone lay 920 km south of Kolkata. It is likely to intensify and move north. State home secretary P R Roy said the wind may attain speeds of up to 120 kmph.

"Thundershowers and heavy rainfall are expected at places over the coastal districts of Bengal on Thursday. If the cyclone does not weaken or change direction, things may get worse on Friday when it crosses Sagar," Alipore Met officials said.

Navy officers who returned from the high seas on Wednesday warned of a grim weekend ahead.

"Rain has already started and the sea looks bad. Our radar images show the cyclone is severe. If it intensifies and remains on course, it may hit Kolkata. The state should start formulating a plan immediately," one officer said.

With the warning coming in, the navy has cancelled its planned exercises off the Haldia coast. A large number of aircraft, flown in by the navy for these exercises, were sent back to their bases as well. Shipping Corporation of India, too, has postponed the departure of MV Harshvardhan from Kolkata Port till further notice.

The warnings recalled the days leading to the 'super cyclone' that hit Orissa on October 29, 1999. It destroyed large swathes of the state's farmland, left about 15 million people homeless and killed over 10,000 people, according to official estimates.