The Bangladesh government will begin evacuating people from the country's coastal regions to safety on Tuesday as Cyclone Amphan approaches with growing intensity, according to Disaster Management and Relief Secretary Shah Kamal.

Cyclone Amphan moved northwards towards the coasts over the west-central Bay of Bengal and was centred at about 800-900 km from the maritime ports at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.

Speaking to bdnews24 on Monday, Kamal said the cyclone was likely to cut its path through Bangladesh's coasts sometime between Tuesday midnight and Wednesday evening.

"We will start moving people into cyclone shelters from Tuesday afternoon."

Amphan is likely to move in a northerly direction and then recurve north-northeastwards before cutting its path through the Bangladesh coast between Khulna and Chattogram, said senior meteorologist Md Bazlur Rashid.

The coastal districts of Satkhira, Khulna, Bagherhat, Jhalokathi, Pirozpur, Borguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barishal, Laxmipur, Chandpur, Noakhali, Feni, and Chattogram will be under the danger signals.

The low-lying areas of these districts may experience flooding from tidal waves 4 to 5 feet higher than normal and heavy rainfall with winds packing speeds of up to 160 kph during Cyclone Amphan, the Met Office warned.

All fishing boats and trawlers over the north Bay and deep sea have been advised to take shelter immediately and remain there until further notice.

In India, the National Disaster Response Force on Tuesday said as many as 41 teams are pre-positioned to carry out evacuation and awareness in both Odisha and West Bengal which are likely to be affected by the impending Cyclone Amphan.

The cyclone, with a width of 700 km and 15 km height, is currently whirling 570 km from south-southwest of West Bengal's Digha and 700 km south-southwest from Bangladesh's Khepupara and is going to make landfall in-between the two islands in over 24 hours.

Addressing a press briefing, Director General S.N. Pradhan said, "Nineteen teams are on ground, while two are on standby in six districts of West Bengal. In Odisha, out of the 20 teams, 15 are actively deployed in seven districts."

He said evacuation is being carried out in areas that are likely to be affected. "In Cyclone shelter homes, where 1,000 people can be accommodated, keeping social distancing in mind, only 400-500 people will be kept.

"This is the second disaster coming as we are already fighting COVID-19. This requires continuous monitoring. We are calling it a cyclone in the times of COVID-19," he added.

According to Sunita Devi, in-charge of cyclones at India Meteorological Department, the cyclone is currently whirling at the wind speed of 210 to 220 km, gusting to over 240 km per hour. The speed will, however, come down to 185 km per hour by the time it makes landfall on Wednesday afternoon.

The weather condition is being continuously tracked by Doppler Weather Radar at Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh.

IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra had earlier said that the cyclone will have multi-hazard consequences -- tidal wave, strong wind and heavy rain.