Meteorological officials say the cyclone is currently some 350 km east of Nellore, in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. They say it will make landfall between Nellore and the port of Machilipatnam by Thursday morning and expect winds of around 90 km an hour. The authorities in Andhra Pradesh and the neighbouring state of Orissa are on high alert and are ready to evacuate people living along the coast.
Nature is always unpredictable.
Fishermen have been warned not to go out and the army, navy and air force have been asked to remain on standby. Officials warned that disruption of transport and communications was likely. The BBC's South Asia correspondent, Mike Wooldridge, says the Bay of Bengal is vulnerable to cyclonic storms this time of the year. In particular, alarm bells have been set ringing in the state of Orissa because of its experience last year. Just over a year ago, Orissa's coastline was struck by a cyclone .