Kolkata, Oct 25 (IANS): The people of West Bengal, especially those in the coastal and Gangetic belts, heaved a sigh of relief, after escaping the onslaught on cyclone Sitrang which made landfall only in between Tinkona Island and Sandwip in Barisal district of Bangladesh.

According to the IMD, Sitrang has already lost much of its strength and has been converted into a deep depression, which will subsequently lose strength over the next few hours.

Although the coastal districts of West Midnapore, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas witnessed gusty winds and light to medium rainfall, there was no report of any major mishap or devastation.

The impact was also not much in the Sunderbans, which was perceived to be most vulnerable.

The least impacted was the state capital of Kolkata, which witnessed sporadic drizzles throughout Monday, thus not dampening the mood of Kali Puja and Diwali much.

However, as a precautionary measure the state administration has barred fishermen from moving to the deep sea for fishing.

Similar restrictions have been imposed on tourists in seaside resorts.

Meanwhile, weather conditions have started improving in different pockets of the state since Tuesday morning.

According to IMD predictions, the condition will improve further in the next four hours.

Bright sunshine is evident over Kolkata already at the time the report was filed. At the same time, the Sitrang effect had subsequently brought down the temperature in and around Kolkata.

As per predictions of the IMB office in Kolkata, the maximum and maximum and minimum temperatures in the city will be 29 degrees Celsius and 23 degree Celsius on Tuesday.

The maximum temperature in Kolkata on Monday was 24.7 degrees, seven degrees below the normal, while the minimum was 21.5 degree Celsius.